HEALTH

Departmental Consultants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 19 October 2011, Official Report, column 1029W, on departmental procurement, how many contracts involved the provision of consultancy services; how many contracts involved the employment of a consultant within his Department; whether any such consultants remained in employment on the latest date for which information is available; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: None of the purchase orders awarded to third sector organisations between May 2010 and August 2011 that were set out in the answer of 19 October 2011 fall within the Government Procurement Service definition of consultancy:
	“the provision to management of objective advice relating to strategy, structure, management or operations of an organisation, in pursuit of its purpose and objectives”.
	Such advice will be provided outside the ‘business-as-usual’ environment when in-house skills are not available and will be time-limited. Consultancy may include the identification of options with recommendations, or assistance with (but the not the delivery of) the implementation of solutions.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he receives any external funding for (a) his ministerial office and (b) his advisers; and what the (i) source and (ii) amount is of any such funding.

Simon Burns: All costs for the ministerial private office and special advisers are met by the Department.

Depressive Illnesses

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were diagnosed of suffering from (a) severe and (b) mild or moderate depression in (i) England, (ii) the northwest and (iii) Warrington in the latest year for which figures are available.

Paul Burstow: The national Quality Outcomes Framework (QOF) for England records the number of people on practice disease registers with a diagnosis of depression, for patients aged 18 years or over. There are no separate prevalence figures for depression by severity type.
	The following table gives the number of patients on the depression register for the areas requested, from the latest release of the QOF, covering the financial year 2010 - 2011:
	
		
			 QOF 2010-11 
			  Number of patients (aged 18 years or over) on depression register 
			 England 4,878,188 
			 North West Strategic Health Authority 746,640 
			 Warrington Primary Care Trust 20,657 
			 Source: QMAS database—2010-11

Diseases: EU Action

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken towards a UK plan for rare diseases as required by the Council of the European Union's recommendation on an action in the field of rare diseases published in June 2009 (2009/C151/02).

Simon Burns: The United Kingdom response to the European Council’s recommendation on the development of a national plan for rare diseases is due by the end of 2013. As part of the work in developing the plan departmental officials are working very closely with the devolved Administrations and key partners to ensure that the plan responds to the actions identified in Recommendation 2009/C 151/02. A public consultation on the draft plan is expected to be launched before the end of this year.

Haemolytic Uremic Syndrome

Duncan Hames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) children and (b) adults were diagnosed with atypical haemolytic uremic syndrome in each of the last three years; and how many of those diagnosed have died as a result of the syndrome.

Simon Burns: Information is not available in the format requested. Information on the numbers of patients diagnosed in out-patient or other environments is not collected centrally. The information provided in the following table is the number of admission episodes where a primary diagnosis of haemolytic-uremic syndrome (i.e. not just atypical) has been recorded.
	
		
			 Total number of finished admission episodes  (1)   with a primary diagnosis  (2)   of Haemolytic-  uremic   syndrome (ICD-10 code D59.3) by age group for 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 
			 Age group 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 
			 0-17 286 325 310 
			 18+ 82 63 79 
			 Total 368 388 389 
			 (1) Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. (2) Primary diagnosis The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. Source  s  : 1. Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care 2. Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
		
	
	Information on deaths involving atypical haemolytic-uremic syndrome is not directly available from the statistical information derived from death registrations.

Haemolytic Uremic Syndrome

Duncan Hames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) children and (b) adults with atypical haemolytic uremic syndrome were treated with (a) plasma therapy and (b) dialysis in each of the last three years.

Simon Burns: Information on the number of these treatments and procedures carried out outside a hospital is not collected centrally. The following table covers in-patient activity for haemolytic-uremic syndrome (i.e. not just atypical).
	
		
			 Total number of finished admission episodes  (1)   with a primary diagnosis  (2)   of Haemolytic-uremic syndrome (ICD-10 code D59.3) and where a treatment or procedure  (3)   of plasma exchange  (4)   or plasma transfusion  (5)   or dialysis  (6)   has been recorded by age group for 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 
			 Treatment Age group 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 
			 Plasma Exchange 0-17 18 8 23 
			  18+ 11 31 27 
			 Total — 29 39 50 
			      
			 Plasma Transfusion 0-17 77 112 72 
			  18+ 0 0 0 
			 Total — 11 112 72 
			      
			 Dialysis 0-17 22 21 45 
			  18+ 50 8 10 
			 Total — 72 29 55 
			 (1)  Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. (2)  Primary diagnosis The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the HES data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. (3)  Number of episodes with a (named) main or secondary procedure The number of episodes where the procedure (or intervention) was recorded in any of the 24 (12 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and four prior to 2002-03) procedure fields in a HES record. A record is only included once in each count, even if the procedure is recorded in more than one procedure field of the record. Note that more procedures are carried out than episodes with a main or secondary procedure. For example, patients undergoing a 'cataract operation' would tend to have at least two procedures—removal of the faulty lens and the fitting of a new one—counted in a single episode. (4)  Plasma Exchange (OPCS 4.5 codes) X32.2—Exchange of plasma (single) X32.3—Exchange of plasma (2-9) X32.4—Exchange of plasma (10-19) X32.5—Exchange of plasma (>19) (5)  Plasma Transfusion (OPCS 4.5 codes) X34.2—Transfusion of plasma (6)  Dialysis (OPCS 4.5 codes) X40.1—Renal dialysis X40.2—Peritoneal dialysis NEC X40.3—Haemodialysis NEC X40.4—Haemofiltration X40.5—Automated peritoneal dialysis X40.6—Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis X40.7—Haemoperfusion X40.8—Other specified compensation for renal failure X40.9—Unspecified compensation for renal failure Sources: 1. Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care 2. Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector

Haemolytic Uremic Syndrome

Duncan Hames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients with atypical haemolytic uremic syndrome were waiting for an organ transplant in each of the last 10 years; and how many received an organ transplant in each of the last three years.

Anne Milton: The information available is provided in the following tables.
	
		
			 Table 1: Patients on the United Kingdom kidney transplant list as at 31 March 2005-11, where the primary renal disease was atypical haemolytic uremic syndrome 
			  Status  
			  Active Suspended  (1) Total 
			 March 2005 26 8 (2)34 
			 March 2006 28 10 38 
			 March 2007 25 9 34 
			 March 2008 23 6 29 
			 March 2009 21 7 28 
			 March 2010 19 8 27 
			 March 2011 17 9 26 
			 (1) Suspended means the patient has been temporarily removed from the list. This happens for such reasons as being too ill to undergo the operation or being away on holiday. (2) NHS Blood and Transplant do not hold historical transplant list data with primary renal disease prior to 2005, therefore the transplant list data shown is for the last seven years. Source: NHS Blood and Transplant 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Number of kidneys transplants in the UK, 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2011, where the primary renal disease was haemolytic uremic syndrome 
			 Financial year Transplants 
			 2004-05 8 
			 2005-06 5 
			 2006-07 10 
			 2007-08 10 
			 2008-09 6 
			 2009-10 14 
			 2010-11 18 
			 Note: The transplant data is provided for the same seven year time period as figures would be misleading for three years only, as the figures have fluctuated. Source: NHS Blood and Transplant

Health

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of local authorities' preparedness for the proposed transfer of public health responsibilities.

Anne Milton: The four Strategic Health Authority (SHA) Cluster Directors of Public Health have been charged with leading public health transitions at the local level. Primary care trusts and local government are responsible for planning the transition of public health responsibilities. Local transition plans are required to be submitted to SHA Clusters by 31 March 2012. Implementation of these plans will be monitored by the SHA Cluster Directors of Public Health. The Directors of Public Health will report progress against these plans to a joint Department of Health and Local Government Programme Board.

Health Services

Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  for what reason the cost of providing existing primary care support services was not included in the calculations for the assessment of the Shared Business Services;
	(2)  if he will ensure that no decision is taken on the bid from NHS Shared Business Services to operate primary care support services in the south west until the standardising primary care support services report has been published.

Simon Burns: The decision to award services to NHS Shared Business Services is made locally, and the Department is not involved in the assessment process.
	The Department does not intervene in matters, which are for local determination because local organisations are best able to make decisions about their local services.

Hepatitis

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of a reduction in onward transmission of hepatitis C on NHS costs.

Anne Milton: We have not assessed the effect of a reduction in onward transmission of hepatitis C on costs to the national health service. However, a reduction in hepatitis C transmission appears likely to reduce NHS costs both by decreasing in the medium, term the need for drug therapy and in the long term, the burden of serious liver disease.

Influenza: Vaccination

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has any plans to reduce the age limit for free influenza injections to 60 years; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: Policy on national immunisation programmes, including seasonal influenza immunisation, is based on the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). JCVI has advised that the groups at greatest risk from flu eligible to receive flu vaccine on the national health service in the 2011-12 flu season are:
	people aged 65 and over; and
	people under 65 years in clinical risk groups(1), including pregnant women.
	(1) Serious medical conditions, which put people at increased risk from flu, are:
	chronic (long-term) respiratory disease, such as severe asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or bronchitis;
	chronic heart disease, such as heart failure;
	chronic kidney disease;
	chronic liver disease;
	chronic neurological disease, such as Parkinson's disease or motor neurone disease;
	diabetes; or
	a weakened immune system due to disease (such as HIV/AIDS) or treatment (such as cancer treatment).
	JCVI is currently reviewing the evidence regarding a number of potential extensions to the flu vaccination programme for future years and will provide advice in due course.

NHS Blood and Transplant: Pay

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was paid to the directors of NHS Blood and Transplant in (a) salaries, (b) other benefits and (c) employer pension contributions in each of the last five years.

Anne Milton: The information is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 NHS Blood and Transplant Directors' salary, benefits and pension contributions, 2010-11 to 2006-07 
			 £ 
			  2010-11 2009-10 2008-09 
			 Position Salary Benefits  (1) Pension cont. Salary Benefits Pension cont. Salary Benefits Pension cont. 
			 Chief Executive 190,000 to 195,000 700 25,000 to 30,000 190,000 to 195,000 700 25,000 to 30,000 170,000 to 175,000 700 20,000 to 25,000 
			 Managing Director National Blood Service (role disestablished 2007-08) — — — — — — — — — 
			 Managing Director BPL (part year 2007-08—role disestablished) — — — — — — — — — 
			 Managing Director UK Transplant (role disestablished 2008-09) — — — — — — — — — 
			 Medical Director (part year 2009-10—permanent appointment) 205,000 to 210,000 300 25,000 to 30,000 155,000 to 160,000 — 20,000 to 25,000 115,000 to 120,000 — 15,000 to 20,000 
			 Director of Strategic Supply and Service Delivery (role disestablished 2008-09) — — — — — — — — — 
			 Director of Patient Services (2008-09 role established) 140,000 to 145,000 2,600 15,000 to 20,000 130,000 to 135,000 4,300 15,000 to 20,000 115,000 to 120,000 4,100 15,000 to 20,000 
		
	
	
		
			 Director of Specialist Services (part year 2009-10—role disestablished) — — — 135,000 to 140,000 — 15,000 to 20,000 125,000 to 130,000 — 15,000 to 20,000 
			 Director of Blood Donation (part year 2009/10—permanent appointment) 130,000 to 135,000 7,700 15,000 to 20,000 35,000 to 40,000 — 5,000 to 10,000 6,000 to 70,000 100 5,000 to 10,000 
			 Director of Organ Donation and Transplantation (part year 2008-09—role established) 130,000 to 135,000 — 15,000 to 20,000 120,000 to 125,000 — 1,0005 to 20,000 65,000 to 70,000 — 5,000 to 10,000 
			 Director of Finance 140,000 to 145,000 1,500 15,000 to 20,000 130,000 to 135,000 — 15,000 to 20,000 120,000 to 125,000 — 15,000 to 20,000 
			 Director of Human Resources (part year 2006-07—role established) 120,000 to 125,000 3,300 15,000 to 20,000 120,000 to 125,000 4,600 15,000 to 20,000 110,000 to 115,000 5,400 15,000 to 20,000 
			 Director of Business Transformation Services (part year 2010-11—permanent appointment) 55,000 to 60,000 800 5,000 to 10,000 120,000 to 125,000 9,300 5,000 to 10,000 105,000 to 100,000 9,200 5,000 to 10,000 
			 Director of Strategy Management (part year 2009-10—role disestablished) — — — 0 to 5,000 — 0 to 5,000 100,000 to 105,000 800 10,000 to 15,000 
			 Director of Communications (part year 2009-10—permanent appointment) 105,000 to 110,000 — 10,000 to 15,000 70,000 to 75,000 — 5,000 to 10,000 100,000 to 105,000 100 10,000 to 15,000 
			 Director of Estates and Facilities (part year 2006-07—role established) 110,000 to 115,000 3,600 10,000 to 15,000 110,000 to 115,000 5,100 15,000 to 20,000 100,000 to 105,000 5,700 10,000 to 15,000 
		
	
	
		
			 £ 
			  2007-08 2006-07 
			 Position Salary Benefits Pension cont. Salary Benefits Pension cont. 
			 Chief Executive 250,000 to 265,000 200 30,000 to 35,000 165,000 to 170,000 — 20,000 to 25,000 
			 Managing Director National Blood Service (role disestablished 2007-08) — — — 120,000 to 125,000 4,800 15,000 to 20,000 
			 Managing Director BPL (part year 2007-08—role disestablished) 195,000 to 200,000 4,400 25,000 to 30,000 100,000 to 105,000 5,400 10,000 to 15,000 
			 Managing Director UK Transplant (role disestablished 2008-09) 130,000 to 135,000 — 15,000 to 20,000 125,000 to 130,000 — 15,000 to 20,000 
			 Medical Director (part year 2009/10—permanent appointment) 95,000 to 100,000 3,600 10,000 to 15,000 205,000 to 210,000 1,100 25,000 to 30,000 
			 Director of Strategic Supply and Service Delivery (role disestablished 2008-09) 120,000 to 125,000 5,600 15,000 to 20,000 — — — 
			 Director of Patient Services (2008-09 role established) — — — — — — 
			 Director of Specialist Services (part year 2009-10—role disestablished) — — — — — — 
			 Director of Blood Donation (part year 2009-10—permanent appointment) — — — — — — 
			 Director of Organ Donation and Transplantation (part year 2008-09—role established) — — — — — — 
			 Director of Finance 165,000 to 175,000 8,000 20,000 to 25,000 110,000 to 115,000 5,400 15,000 to 20,000 
			 Director of Human Resources (part year 2006-07—role established) 100,000 to 105,000 3,900 10,000 to 15,000 75,000 to 80,000 2,900 10,000 to 15,000 
		
	
	
		
			 Director of Business Transformation Services (part year 2010-11—permanent appointment) 100,000 to 105,000 8,500 5,000 to 10,000 60,000 to 65,000 4,800 5,000 to 10,000 
			 Director of Strategy Management (part year 2009-10—role disestablished) 100,000 to 105,000 — 10,000 to 15,000 95,000 to 100,000 — 10,000 to 15,000 
			 Director of Communications (part year 2009-10—permanent appointment) 125,000 to 130,000 0 to 500 15,000 to 20,000 145,000 to 155,000 3,200 15,000 to 20,000 
			 Director of Estates and Facilities (part year 2006-07—role established) 95,000 to 100,000 5,000 10,000 to 15,000 55,000 to 60,000 — 5,000 to 10,000 
			 (1) Benefits in kind were in relation to the provision of cars and are stated in round £100s not £1000s. Notes: 1. In October 2005 the National Blood Service and.UK Transplant merged to create NHS Blood and Transplant. The two organisational structures merged and the initial changes were completed in 2006-07. Further changes to Director posts have been made in later financial years as a result of further reconfiguration to support delivery of the strategic plan. 2. Significant salary changes between years can be explained by a new appointment to a post previously filled by an individual with many years' service, non-recurrent costs of one-off settlements (such as redundancy) and additional running costs when two salaries were being paid to cover sickness or during the process of reconfiguration. Source: NHS Blood and Transplant

NHS: Older People

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his most recent estimate is of the proportion of NHS expenditure which is spent on people aged 60 years and over; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: The most recent and partial analysis of national health service expenditure by age was supplied in departmental report 2006 (figure 6.2) based on analysis of financial year 2003-04 (for the hospital and community health sector (HCHS)). This analysis showed that 43% of total HCHS expenditure was on people aged 65 and over.

NHS: Social Enterprises

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 18 October 2011, Official Report, column 839W, on the public sector, what the (a) name, (b) region, (c) size of contract from the NHS and (d) length of contract from the NHS is of each of the staff-led social enterprises; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: The Department has supported the right to request (R2R), which has enabled 45 staff-led social enterprises to be established as shown in the following table. This policy has supported approximately 25,000 staff to move out of the national health service into social enterprises with contracts worth roughly £900 million a list of these are also in the table.
	The Department cannot provide details of individual social enterprise staff and turnover figures as they are commercial in confidence and belong to the social enterprises as they are now independent bodies. Contracts were negotiated between the new social enterprises and commissioners (ie primary care trusts). The Department's policy was the contracts should be for between three and five years, depending on services and the introduction of any qualified provider for their services.
	
		
			 Strategic health authority Trust Social enterprise Services 
			 East of England North East Essex Anglian Community Enterprise Whole provider arm with over 40 services including learning disability services and services for children. 
			 East of England Mid Essex Central Essex Community Services Whole provider arm. Providing and/or managing the provision of a wide range of safe, high quality and cost effective community-based health and social care related services to local people within the East of England and adjoining areas of London and Kent. 
			 East of England Bedfordshire Community Dental Services CIC Community Dental Services providing vital oral health services to the most marginalised people and disadvantaged communities in Bedfordshire and Luton. The social enterprise will improve the oral health of people with special care needs, and vulnerable people who do not have access to regular dental care. 
			 East of England Bedfordshire Sunnyhill Health Care CIC A range of primary and community services including general medical care services, home visits, minor surgery, ante and post natal care and cervical cytology. 
		
	
	
		
			 East of England Norfolk Horizon Health CIC Primary care services and. management of Long Term Conditions for patients in custodial/offender care environments. 
			 East Midlands Leicester City Inclusion Healthcare General Medical Services for homeless people including substance misuse services. 
			 East Midlands Derby City Ripplez Health visiting programme working with vulnerable teenage parents. 
			 London Bromley Bromley Healthcare A whole provider arm of integrated community and primary care services. 
			 London Kingston Your Healthcare A whole provider arm of primary and community care services. 
			 North West Salford Social Adventures Ltd A healthy living centre delivering a range of public health services. 
			 South East Coast Medway Medway Community Healthcare Whole provider arm providing provide a range of community health services for the population of Medway which is 275,000. These include district nursing, health visiting, outpatient therapists, out of hours service, dental service and community hospital. 
			 Yorks and Humber Hull City Health Care Partnership CIC Whole provider arm including Adult Services, Children's Services, Specialist Services, Primary Health Care Services and Corporate Services. 
			 Yorks and Humber Wakefield Spectrum Community Health Enhanced general medical services, health promotion and wellbeing interventions targeting specific population groups, eg adult and young offenders, older substance misusers and dually diagnosed clients, young people and hard to reach groups seeking contraception and sexual health advice. 
			 Yorks and Humber NE Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus NAViGO Health and Social Care CIC Mental health services, including services for older people, community mental health teams, eating disorder services and employment services. 
			 London Brent PCT Integrated Health CIC A wide range of primary health care services for residents of Brent, Harrow and Ealing. 
			 London Ealing PCT The Wellbeing Service Primary care mental health services across the borough of Ealing to clients who have primarily mild to moderate mental health problems. Clinical and non clinical interventions using a holistic approach, including one to one, telephone contact, and patient groups using evidence based therapies. 
			 North West Salford PCX Six Degrees Social Enterprise The Primary Care Mental Health Service is an Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) Service delivering high quality and innovative care with a central mission to improve mental health and wellbeing through the use of self help skills and see more resilient communities in which people are accepted, supported and equipped with skills to deal with the challenges they face. 
			 South West Bristol PCT (Bristol Community Health) Bristol Community Health CIC Whole provider arm with services targeted primarily at the adult population in Bristol and managing a comprehensive portfolio of complementary, nurse-led, community and specialist services. Providing a number of services with a specific remit, to meet the health inequalities agenda such as our Tuberculosis service as well as delivering primary care to the prison populations in Bristol and South Gloucestershire. 
			 South West Devon Chime Audiology Providing hearing and balance care to patients of all ages from birth to old age for the Exeter, Mid and East Devon areas. This includes follow up of babies from the Newborn Hearing Screening Programme through to a comprehensive adult hearing aid service including hearing therapy—free at the point of delivery via the NHS. 
			 South West Swindon Care and Support Partnership (SEQOL—Social Enterprise Quality of Life) Whole provider arm providing support for long-term conditions, rehabilitation, support of older people with complex health and social care needs and complex care at home. 
			 West Midlands Birmingham East and North PCT John Taylor Hospice CIC Community end of life care, including hospice at home and Macmillan services. 
			 Yorks and Humber NHS Bradford and Airedale (interpreting) Enable2 CIC Interpreting and translation services. 
		
	
	
		
			 Yorks and Humber North East Lincolnshire Care—Trust Plus (NEL CTP) Care Plus Group (North East Lincolnshire) Ltd Wide range of services including end of life care, specialist services, rapid response team, and all adult and older peoples mental health and associated services in North East Lincolnshire. 
			 Yorks and Humber Rotherham Gateway Primary Care CIC Primary care general medical services for asylum seekers and socially excluded vulnerable groups and individuals within the Rotherham area. 
			 East Midlands Nottingham Nottingham CityCare Partnership Delivering a range of community services in partnership with Nottingham Emergency Medical Services CBS and Nottingham City Council. 
			 East of England Great Yarmouth and Waveney East Coast Community Healthcare CIC Whole provider arm including a wide range of community services together with a GP Practice and small number of specialist services such as prison healthcare, predominantly within the Great Yarmouth and Waveney area. 
			 East of England Hertfordshire Health Inclusion Matters CIC (trading as Meadowell) Homeless primary care services. 
			 East of England Luton CHUMS CIC The Child Bereavement and Trauma Service CHUMS in Bedfordshire offers bereavement support to children up to the age of 18 years and their families following the death of someone close through services including family visits, individual support, workshops and parents groups, a parenting course, residential weekends, family days, specialist days for those bereaved through suicide and also a remembrance service. CHUMS also delivers training to professionals, and produces literature in support of bereaved families and professionals. 
			 East of England Suffolk Allied Health Professionals Suffolk CIC Providing community musculoskeletal physiotherapy and back and neck services in Suffolk. 
			 London Hillingdon The Orchard Medical Practice CIC Primary and additional medical services in an area of high deprivation, including asylum seekers, refugees and many patients who do not have English as a first language and working in close association with other health and community groups. 
			 London Newham Name to be decided A range of integrated primary and community services. 
			 London Tower Hamlets (wound healing) Accelerate Health CIC (Trading as Accelerate CIC) Wound care and lymphoedema services. 
			 North West Bolton Bolton Community Practice CIC Primary medical care services for vulnerable people. 
			 South Central Buckinghamshire The Healthy Living Centre CIC Health and wellbeing services. 
			 South Central Isle of Wight The Phoenix Project A range of day service activities for people with (earning disabilities living on the Isle of Wight including individuals with profound and multiple disabilities and complex health needs as well as individuals with challenging behaviour. 
			 South East Coast Surrey First Community Health and Care QC A wide range of community healthcare services for families and adults living in Surrey and West Sussex. 
			 South West Bath and North East Somerset Sirona Health and Care CIC Whole provider arm providing community health and social care services for adults, older people, children and learning disabled. 
			 South West Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Peninsula Community Health CIC Whole provider arm of approximately 48 service lines providing a full range of community health services for both adults and children for the whole population of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Service lines also include the salaried dental service/district nursing, health visiting, school nursing, community therapy and podiatry. 
			 South West Gloucestershire Gloucestershire Care Services CIC Whole provider arm providing a full range of community health and adult social care services. 
			 South West North Somerset North Somerset Community Partnership CIC Whole provider arm providing a full range of primary and social care services. 
			 South West Plymouth Plymouth Community Healthcare CIC Whole provider arm providing a wide range of Primary Care, Community and In-patient services for Children, Young People and Adults including a comprehensive range of Mental Health, Learning Disability and General Rehabilitation services for the City of Plymouth, including some services commissioned by Devon and Cornwall Primary Care Trusts. 
		
	
	
		
			 South West Torbay Care Trust DENPOD Oral care services for disadvantaged and vulnerable people, delivering oral health promotion activities to protect and maintain oral health. Podiatry providing foot health interventions and education to the vulnerable and those in hard to reach areas to remain active, pain free and independent. 
			 West Midlands Dudley Lymphcare UK Comprehensive and holistic Lymphoedema Service that is equitable and accessible to patients suffering with both Primary and Secondary Lymphoedema, Chronic oedema and Lipoedema. 
			 Yorks and Humber Bradford and Airedale Bevan Healthcare CIC Bevan healthcare providing easy access to high quality primary healthcare services for homeless people, people in temporary accommodation, asylum seekers, refugees and other marginalised groups who find it difficult to gain access to mainstream services. 
			 Yorks and Humber Kirklees Locala Community Partnerships CIC A whole provider arm providing a wide range of health, wellbeing and social care services. 
			     
			 Total staff All R2R totals 25,000

Organs: Donors

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will consider allocating responsibility to one individual for the Government's objective of improving rates of organ donation and transplantation; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: Improving rates of organ donation and transplantation rests not with one individual but with a wide range of people. As Minister for Public Health, I am responsible for organ donation and transplantation for the Department of Health.
	Therefore, work continues at national, regional and local levels across a number of organisations to support the excellent work of the national health service in identifying, referring and procuring donor organs. We have made good progress and are on track to meet the 50% improvement in deceased donor rates by 2013 anticipated by the Organ Donation Taskforce. A Transitional Steering Group, established in March 2011 is encouraging action at all levels and provides a clear reporting line to United Kingdom health ministers on progress. As we modernise the NHS we will continue our work to keep donation rates at a record high so that more people can benefit from a life-saving transplant.

Organs: Donors

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the percentage change was in the number of people (a) on the Organ Donor Register, (b) who died in circumstances suitable for organ donation and whose organs were donated and (c) requiring a transplant operation who received one in each of the last six years; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: The information requested is provided in the following table.
	
		
			 Organ Donor Register (ODR) figures, 2005-06 to 2010-11 
			 Financial year Number on the ODR Percentage change Deceased organ donors Percentage   change Deceased organ transplants Percentage change 
			 2005-06 13,126,625 — 764 — 2,196 — 
			 2006-07 14,209,009 8 793 4 2,385 9 
			 2007-08 15,148,606 7 809 2 2,381 -0.2 
			 2008-09 16,132,651 6 899 11 2,552 7 
			 2009-10 17,084,885 6 959 7 2,645 4 
			 2010-11 17,751,795 4 1,010 5 2,695 2 
			        
			 Overall increase 4,625,170 35 246 32 499 23 
			 Note: The percentage change figure for the overall increase, will not equal the total sum of the percentage change figures. The percentage change from year to year is calculated comparing one year with the previous year, whereas the overall increase is comparing the final year (2010-11) with the first year (2005-06). Source: NHS Blood and Transplant 
		
	
	Sustained work to improve organ donation and transplantation rates continues at national, regional and local levels and we have made good progress and are on track to meet the 50% improvement in deceased donor rates by 2013 anticipated by the Organ Donation Taskforce. Significant resources have been made available, largely through NHS Blood and Transplant, to increase the number of specialist nurses for organ donation and appoint clinical leads, donation committees and donation chairs in acute trusts to drive improvement locally. This has helped donor rates to increase and for rates to continue to rise in 2011-12.

Pain

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence on the publication of a quality standard for chronic pain in adults.

Paul Burstow: We wrote to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in December, asking for further scoping work on 11 topics, and for advice on their suitability for the development of quality standards. The list included a possible quality standard or standards on pain relief, including pain relief in children. This topic of ‘pain management’ was included in the proposed list for the library of NICE Quality Standards that the National Quality Board will be considering shortly, following the completion of an engagement exercise hosted by NICE. An announcement will be made in due course.

Pain

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) elective and (b) emergency (i) admissions and (ii) bed days were recorded for patients with a primary diagnosis of chronic pain in each primary care trust in the last year for which figures are available.

Paul Burstow: The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of finished admission episodes  (1)   and number of finished consultant episode (FCE) bed  days  (2)   by method of admission  (3)   with a primary diagnosis of chronic pain  (4)   by primary care trust of residence  (5)   2009-10 
			  Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			  Finished admission episodes FCE b  ed days 
			 Primary care trust Elective Emergency Unknown Elective Emergency Unknown 
			 East Midlands SHA       
			 Bassetlaw PCT * 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Derby City PCT * * 0 0 31 0 
			 Derbyshire County PCT 9 8 0 25 22 0 
			 Leicester city PCT * * 0 0 2 0 
			 Leicestershire County and Rutland PCT 6 11 * 39 49 57 
			 Northamptonshire Teaching PCT * * 0 0 72 0 
			 Nottingham City PCT 7 * 0 0 1 0 
			 Nottinghamshire County Teaching PCT * 6 0 20 72 0 
			        
			 East of England SHA       
			 Bedfordshire PCT 18 * 0 37 6 0 
			 Cambridgeshire PCT 22 9 0 0 60 0 
			 East and North Hertfordshire PCT 20 * 0 11 27 0 
			 Great Yarmouth and Waveney PCT * * 0 12 15 0 
			 Luton PCT * * 0 0 40 0 
			 Mid Essex PCT 23 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Norfolk PCT 47 9 * 60 109 27 
			 North East Essex PCT 7 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Peterborough PCT * * 0 25 9 0 
			 South East Essex PCT 9 7 0 38 55 0 
			 South West Essex PCT 16 * 0 18 90 0 
			 Suffolk PCT 16 8 0 29 69 0 
			 West Essex PCT 11 * 0 30 12 0 
			 West Hertfordshire PCT 10 * 0 20 2 0 
			        
			 London SHA       
			 Barking and Dagenham PCT 12 0 0 3 0 0 
			 Barnet PCT 16 * 0 18 24 0 
			 Bexley Care Trust 18 * * 3 3 1 
			 Brent Teaching PCT 10 * 0 1 34 0 
			 Bromley PCT 13 * 0 0 22 0 
			 Camden PCT 30 0 0 2 0 0 
			 City and Hackney Teaching PCT 9 * 0 0 4 0 
			 Croydon PCT 11 * 0 25 8 0 
			 Ealing PCT 7 11 0 10 134 0 
			 Enfield PCT 37 * 0 15 4 0 
			 Greenwich Teaching PCT 19 * 0 16 22 0 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham PCT * * 0 0 16 0 
			 Haringey Teaching PCT 14 * 0 0 6 0 
			 Harrow PCT 12 * 0 19 13 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Havering PCT 13 * 0 8 0 0 
			 Hillingdon PCT 12 * 0 0 0 0 
			 Hounslow PCT 8 * 0 12 32 0 
			 Islington PCT 24 * 0 0 36 0 
			 Kensington and Chelsea PCT * * 0 45 4 0 
			 Lambeth PCT 13 0 0 0 25 0 
			 Lewisham PCT 29 * 0 4 7 0 
			 Newham PCT 6 * 0 0 3 0 
			 Redbridge PCT 8 * 0 0 62 0 
			 Richmond and Twickenham PCT * 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Southwark PCT 25 * 0 0 15 0 
			 Sutton and Merton PCT 11 * 0 24 8 0 
			 Tower hamlets PCT * * 0 0 2 0 
			 Waltham forest PCT 18 * 0 4 47 0 
			 Wandsworth PCT 9 * 0 17 20 0 
			 Westminster PCT 6 * 0 4 0 0 
			        
			 North East SHA       
			 County Durham PCT 16 7 * 21 21 2 
			 Gateshead PCT 0 8 0 0 29 0 
			 Middlesbrough PCT 0 * 0 0 5 0 
			 Newcastle PCT 0 * 0 0 3 0 
			 North Tyneside PCT * * 0 0 0 0 
			 Northumberland Care Trust * 0 0 3 0 0 
			 Redcar and Cleveland PCT * * 0 2 16 0 
			 South Tyneside PCT * * 0 0 8 0 
			 Stockton-on-Tees Teaching PCT 0 * 0 0 2 0 
			 Sunderland Teaching PCT * * 0 1 16 0 
			        
			 North West SHA       
			 Ashton, Leigh and Wigan PCT 45 * 0 4 7 0 
			 Blackburn with Darwen PCT * * 0 0 4 0 
			 Blackpool PCT 0 * 0 0 16 0 
			 Bolton PCT 77 * 0 0 68 0 
			 Bury PCT 130 * 0 0 5 0 
			 Central and Eastern Cheshire PCT 37 8 0 1 34 0 
			 Central Lancashire PCT 65 * 0 9 28 0 
			 Cumbria Teaching PCT 6 6 * 33 22 46 
			 East Lancashire Teaching PCT 8 * 0 0 15 0 
			 Halton and St Helens PCT 32 * 0 9 25 0 
			 Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale PCT 134 * 0 2 5 0 
			 Knowsley PCT 0 * 0 0 6 0 
			 Liverpool PCT * * 0 36 6 0 
			 Manchester PCT 128 * 0 17 2 0 
			 North Lancashire Teaching PCT 28 0 0 6 0 0 
			 Oldham PCT 16 * * 16 1 25 
			 Salford PCT 609 0 0 10 0 0 
			 Sefton PCT 0 * 0 0 67 0 
			 Stockport PCT 80 6 0 0 171 0 
			 Tameside and Glossop PCT 224 * 0 11 61 0 
			 Trafford PCT 105 6 0 0 77 0 
			 Warrington PCT 43 * 0 4 10 0 
			 Wirral PCT 10 * 0 22 39 0 
			        
			 South Central SHA       
			 Berkshire West PCT 12 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Buckinghamshire PCT 8 * 0 0 8 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Hampshire PCT 60 13 * 213 91 58 
			 Isle of Wight NHS PCT 0 * 0 0 15 0 
			 Milton Keynes PCT * * 0 2 6 0 
			 Oxfordshire PCT * 6 0 5 86 0 
			 Portsmouth City Teaching PCT * 0 0 14 0 0 
			 Southampton City PCT * * 0 12 2 0 
			 Swindon PCT * * 0 19 3 0 
			        
			 South East Coast SHA       
			 Berkshire East PCT * * 0 0 27 0 
			 Brighton and Hove City PCT * * 0 3 12 0 
			 East Sussex Downs and Weald PCT 10 * 0 19 13 0 
			 Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT 15 7 0 44 133 0 
			 Hastings and Rother PCT * * 0 0 6 0 
			 Medway PCT 8 * 0 19 7 0 
			 Surrey PCT 51 9 0 247 31 0 
			 West Kent PCT 34 6 0 3 42 0 
			 West Sussex PCT 34 10 0 5 36 0 
			        
			 South West SHA       
			 Bath and North East Somerset PCT 0 * 0 0 2 0 
			 Bournemouth and Poole Teaching PCT * * 0 16 22 0 
			 Bristol PCT 15 6 0 0 63 0 
			 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly PCT 9 * 0 40 21 0 
			 Devon PCT 10 7 * 48 16 5 
			 Dorset PCT 6 * 0 21 54 0 
			 Gloucestershire PCT 8 6 0 2 36 0 
			 North Somerset PCT * * 0 2 22 0 
			 Plymouth Teaching PCT * 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Somerset PCT 13 16 0 22 150 0 
			 South Gloucestershire PCT * * 0 0 110 0 
			 Torbay Care Trust * * 0 21 6 0 
			 Wiltshire PCT * * 0 78 17 0 
			        
			 West Midlands SHA       
			 Birmingham East and North PCT * * 0 15 39 0 
			 Coventry Teaching PCT * 0 0 37 0 0 
			 Dudley PCT * * 0 21 6 0 
			 Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT 12 * 0 44 0 0 
			 Herefordshire PCT * * 0 21 1 0 
			 North Staffordshire PCT * * 0 0 1 0 
			 Sandwell PCT 16 * 0 1 4 0 
			 Shropshire County PCT 6 * 0 6 2 0 
			 South Birmingham PCT * * 0 17 27 0 
			 South Staffordshire PCT 26 * 0 14 74 0 
			 Stoke on Trent PCT * * 0 18 2 0 
			 Telford and Wrekin PCT * 0 0 4 0 0 
			 Walsall Teaching PCT * 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Warwickshire PCT 15 6 0 43 51 0 
			 Wolverhampton City PCT * * 0 0 46 0 
			 Worcestershire PCT 49 * 0 152 40 0 
			        
			 Yorkshire and Humber SHA       
			 Barnsley PCT * * * 5 7 4 
			 Bradford and Airedale Teaching PCT 26 9 * 0 49 24 
			 Calderdale PCT * * 0 0 2 0 
			 Doncaster PCT * * * 4 25 11 
		
	
	
		
			 East Riding of Yorkshire PCT 23 23 0 30 299 0 
			 Hull Teaching PCT * 19 0 16 276 0 
			 Kirklees PCT * * 0 0 74 0 
			 Leeds PCT 25 8 * 38 122 15 
			 Lincolnshire Teaching PCT 22 14 0 5 185 0 
			 North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus * 0 0 0 0 0 
			 North Lincolnshire PCT * 0 0 0 0 0 
			 North Yorkshire and York PCT 8 8 * 1 109 6 
			 Rotherham PCT 10 9 0 1 37 0 
			 Sheffield PCT 29 10 0 34 105 0 
			 Wakefield District PCT * * 0 5 19 0 
			 (1)  Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. (2)  Episode duration (FCE bed days) Episode duration is calculated as the difference in days between the episode start date and the episode end date, where both are given. Episode duration is based on finished consultant episodes and only applies to ordinary admissions, ie day cases are excluded (unless otherwise stated). (3)  Method of admission This is the sum of the episode duration for all finished consultant episodes that ended within the financial year. This field does not include bed days where the episode was unfinished at the end of the financial year. To identify bed days as emergency bed days we have filtered the total bed days figures by admission method indicating the admission was an emergency (codes 21 to 24 and 28). 21 = Emergency: via Accident and Emergency (A&E) services, including the casualty department of the provider 22 = Emergency: via general practitioner (GP) 23 = Emergency: via Bed Bureau, including the Central Bureau 24 = Emergency: via consultant outpatient clinic 28 = Emergency: other means, including patients who arrive via the A&E department of another healthcare provider" (4)  Primary diagnosis The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and 7 prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. ICD-10 codes used: R52.1 - Chronic intractable pain R52.2 - Other chronic pain" (5)  SHA/PCT of residence The strategic health authority (SHA) or primary care trust (PCT) containing the patient’s normal home address. This does not necessarily reflect where the patient was treated as they may have travelled to another SHA/PCT for treatment. Note:  Small numbers To protect patient confidentiality, figures between 1 and 5 have been replaced with “*” (an asterisk). Where it was still possible to identify numbers from the total an additional number (the next smallest) has been replaced. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care

Radiotherapy

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 10 October 2011, Official Report, column 311W, on radiotherapy, how many of the members of the Specialised Service Transitional Oversight Group have a (a) medical and (b) financial background.

Simon Burns: Four members of Specialised Services Transitional Oversight Group have a medical background. Two members have been selected specifically for their clinical role namely David Black and Kathy McLean.
	No member of the Group has a direct financial background but a separate financial advisory group feeds into the deliberations of the Specialised Services Transitional Oversight Group.

Radiotherapy

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 10 October 2011, Official Report, column 310W, on radiotherapy, 
	(1)  and with reference to the first annual report of the radiotherapy dataset, if he will take steps to increase the allocation of resources for radiotherapy treatment to Avon, Somerset and Wiltshire;
	(2)  and with reference to the National Radiotherapy Implementation Group report, Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy Treatment (SBRT) Guidelines for Commissioners, Providers and Clinicians in England 2011, for what reasons his Department considers there are insufficient patients with early stage inoperable lung cancer each year to introduce a national SBRT lung cancer tariff;
	(3)  what guidance he has provided to commissioners on spending the additional funding for the expansion of radiotherapy capacity;
	(4)  for what reasons the additional funding is not ring-fenced for the purpose of expanding radiotherapy treatment.

Paul Burstow: “Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer”, published in January 2011, set out our commitment to expand radiotherapy capacity by investing over £150 million of additional funding until 2014-15. This funding, as well as existing funding for radiotherapy, is included in overall primary care trust (PCT) baseline allocations which amount to around £85 billion nationally.
	The Secretary of State for Health, the right hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley), does not mandate how much PCTs are to spend on particular services within, these overall allocations. PCTs including those which commission services for Avon, Somerset and Wiltshire, have local discretion to decide how to use their overall allocation to commission services, including radiotherapy services, to meet the health care needs of their local populations.
	Work is under way nationally to develop radiotherapy tariffs and this will include consideration of a tariff for Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy Treatment. The development and implementation of national tariffs for services such as radiotherapy is dependent on the existence and use of 'currencies' which describe the service being provided and which enable cost data to be collected, which is then used to underpin tariff prices. For some services with low activity volumes, setting a tariff on the basis of limited cost data may not be appropriate, in which case there would continue to be local agreement on price.
	The “NHS Operating Framework 2011-12” states that the national health service is expected to implement the new Cancer Strategy and that commissioners should develop plans to ensure that local populations have appropriate access to radiotherapy treatment.

Stem Cells: Medical Treatments

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many stem cell transplants were approved in each specialised commissioning group under (a) standard, (b) clinical option and (c) developmental category in each of the last five years.

Anne Milton: The Department does not hold a record of the number of stem cell transplants approved by each specialised commissioning group in the national health service.

WALES

Departmental Assets

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assets with a value of £250,000 or more her Department has bought since May 2010; for what purpose; and if she will make a statement.

David Jones: No such assets have been purchased.

Departmental Lost Property

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether her Department has lost any (a) computers, (b) mobile telephones, (c) BlackBerrys and (d) other IT equipment since May 2010; and if she will make a statement.

David Jones: No such equipment has been lost.

Departmental Official Hospitality

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much her Department has spent on hospitality for staff since May 2010.

David Jones: Nil.

Departmental Responsibilities

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales at how many events organised by (a) charities, (b) other civil society groups, (c) businesses and (d) lobbying organisations Ministers and senior officials in her Department have given speeches in each month since May 2010; and if she will make a statement.

David Jones: The Secretary of State for Wales, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs Gillan), and I, regularly speak at a variety of events hosted by a variety of organisations. Presenting the information in the format requested would incur disproportionate cost. Meetings with external organisations are listed on the Wales Office's website.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Animal Experiments: EU Law

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether draft regulations on the use of animals in scientific procedures transposing EU Directive 2010/63/EU into UK law will be open for public consultation during the process of implementation.

Lynne Featherstone: Preliminary work on the preparation of draft legislation to transpose European Directive 2010/63/EU has begun. We will seek input from individuals and groups with an interest at appropriate points in the detailed drafting process.

Asylum

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many failed Tamil asylum seekers have been returned to Sri Lanka in each month since May 2010; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: The UK Border Agency does not record specific data regarding an individual's ethnicity.
	The information can be provided only at disproportionate cost as it would require a manual search of individual case files.
	The UK Border Agency can identify that between 1 May 2010 and 30 September 2011, 573 failed asylum seekers have been returned to Sri Lanka.

Asylum

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her assessment is of the extent of progress by the Greek government in implementing its National Action Plan for Managed Migration and Asylum Reform; and when she expects to be able to resume Dublin regulation returns of asylum seekers from the UK to Greece.

Damian Green: holding answer 1 November 2011
	Since publication of the Greek Action Plan on Managed Migration and Asylum Reform last year there have been some notable improvements to the overall asylum system. These include an increase in the recognition of refugee status from less than 1% to 12% and improvements in training for decision makers, qualifications for interpreters and developments to reception facilities for unaccompanied minors. The Greek Ministry of Citizen Protection has also appointed directors for the newly established Asylum Service and First Reception Service which are due to be up and running next year.
	However, there is still much more progress needed and the Government remains concerned about the lack of improvements to the poor detention conditions, particularly at the Greek-Turkish border. We will continue to apply pressure on Greece to treat this area as a matter of urgency.
	Successful delivery of the Greek Action Plan will ensure that Greece meets its international obligations towards asylum seekers. We will monitor the situation and progress made. When it is clear to us that Greece is meeting its obligations in practice, and that as a result the criticisms detailed in the ruling by the European Court of Human Rights on 21 January 2011 in the case of MSS v. Belgium and Greece have been addressed, we will seek to resume Dublin Regulation returns.

Crimes of Violence: Young Offenders

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many violent offences where the victim and perpetrator were under 18 years old were categorised as (a) detected, (b) undetected, (c) live and (d) victim declined to prosecute in each (i) London borough and (ii) police force area in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 1 November 2011
	The requested data on violent offences where the victim and the alleged perpetrator were under 18 years old are not available centrally, and could be collated only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Consultants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full-time equivalent staff are employed on consultancy contracts in her Department; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: The Home Office commercial objectives require consultancy services to be commissioned in terms of defined output, not in terms of individuals assigned by the firms to deliver that output. Therefore, the Department does not employ individuals under contracts for consultancy services or keep records of how many individuals are working on each consultancy engagement. Carrying out an exercise to obtain these numbers would incur disproportionate cost.

Deportation: North Africa

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were returned to (a) Libya, (b) Algeria and (c) Tunisia under the provisions of memoranda of understanding in each of the last five years.

Damian Green: The following table shows the total number of removals and voluntary departures of Libyan, Algerian and Tunisian nationals from the UK to their respective countries of origin in each year from 2006 to 2010.
	
		
			 Removals and voluntary departures  (1,2)   of Algerian, Libyan and Tunisian nationals to their country of origin  (3)  —January 2006 to December 2010 
			 Number of departures 
			  2006 2007 2008 2009 2010  (4) 
			 Total removals and voluntary departures of:      
			 Algerian nationals to Algeria 378 390 441 342 249 
			 Libyan nationals to Libya 104 109 102 149 209 
			 Tunisian nationals to Tunisia 30 34 25 32 43 
			 (1) Includes enforced removals, persons departing voluntarily after notifying the UK Border Agency of their intention to leave prior to their departure, persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration and persons who it has been established left the UK without informing the immigration authorities. (2) Removals and voluntary departures recorded on the system as at the dates on which the data extracts were taken. (3) Destination as recorded on source database. (4) Provisional figures. Figures may under record due to data cleansing and data matching exercises that take place after the extracts are taken. 
		
	
	The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of persons removed or departed voluntarily from the UK within ‘Immigration Statistics’. The data on removals and voluntary departures are available in tables rv.01 to rv.08 from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science, research and statistics web pages at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/research-statistics/migration/migration-statistics1/

Entry Clearances

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Tier Four visa holders had left the UK on completion of their studies as of 1 September (a) 2009, (b) 2010 and (c) 2011.

Damian Green: The UK Border Agency is not able to provide the information requested. The e-Borders system enables checks to be made on individuals arriving or exiting the country at a majority of the points of entry to the UK but will not be fully rolled out until 2015.

Fireworks

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations she has received on amending legislation in respect of the sale of fireworks to limit their purchase to one week before 5 November.

Edward Davey: I have been asked to reply 
	as I have responsibility for fireworks legislation.
	I have received no representations on amending legislation in respect of the sale of fireworks to limit their purchase to one week before 5 November.

Fireworks

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether (a) she or (b) officials of her Department have met representatives of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to discuss their proposals in respect of the sale of fireworks.

Edward Davey: I have been asked to reply 
	as I have responsibility for fireworks legislation.
	Neither I, nor officials within this Department, have met representatives of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to discuss their proposals in respect of the sale of fireworks.

Gangs

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many gangs have been identified in (a) each London borough and (b) each police force area in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 1 November 2011
	Data on gangs has not been systematically captured in the UK. However evidence suggests that gang membership is relatively rare though it can be a serious problem in specific areas. The Association of Chief Police Officers is undertaking an exercise to map gang activity in some forces in England, and will report by the end of the year.

Hillsborough Independent Panel

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 24 October 2011, Official Report, column 45W, on Hillsborough Stadium, whether papers submitted by South Yorkshire Police to the Government concerning the Hillsborough disaster will be treated as Government papers.

Theresa May: holding answer 31 October 2011
	All papers held by Government in relation to the Hillsborough disaster, including papers submitted to Government by outside organisations, have been made available, in full and uncensored, to the Hillsborough Independent Panel.

Migration

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by what date she expects to reduce net migration to tens of thousands.

Theresa May: We expect the Government's policies to reduce net migration to Britain to the tens of thousands by the end of the Parliament.

Prisoners' Release: Foreign Nationals

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national prisoners had not been removed at the end of their custodial sentence and were not being detained for immigration purposes in (a) May 2009 and (b) May 2010.

Damian Green: holding answer 1 November 2011
	In May 2009 there were 2,483 foreign national offenders who had not been removed at the end of their sentence and were not being detained for Immigration purposes. In May 2010, there were 3,808.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon Emissions: EU Law

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether it is his policy that the UK should exceed the minimum requirements for EU carbon dioxide reductions.

Gregory Barker: The UK's 2020 target of a reduction in greenhouse gases of at least 34%, as laid down under the Climate Change Act is consistent with the UK's share of the overall EU targets under the Climate and Energy package agreed on 12 December 2008, which sets the EU policy framework for the period 2013 to 2020.
	The Government set the level for the fourth carbon budget (2023-27) at 1,950 MtCO2e, which is equivalent to an average reduction of 50% over the period, from the 1990 baseline. Meeting the fourth carbon budget depends on progress on the EU 2020 target up to 2020, the 2050 roadmap beyond and the UK share of the EU ETS. Whether or not we manage to reduce emissions by the amount required to meet carbon budgets will depend on the level of the UK's share of the EU ETS cap. The UK is pushing for the EU to show more ambition by moving to a tighter 2020 emissions target, which in turn will drive a more stringent EU ETS cap.
	If by 2014 our UK commitments place us on a different emissions trajectory than the EU ETS trajectory agreed by the EU, we will, as appropriate, revise up our budget to align it with the actual EU trajectory.

Departmental Consultants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many full-time equivalent staff are employed on consultancy contracts in his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: DECC employed one consultant as of 30 September 2011. Full details of DECC staffing information can be found on the DECC website by following this link:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/about_decc/about_decc.aspx

Departmental Consultants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 25 October 2011, Official Report, columns 185-86W, on departmental procurement, how many of the contracts referred to were for consultancy services; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change has advertised 40 contracts on the Contracts Finder website since May 2010. 12 of these contracts were for consultancy services.

Energy

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans his Department has to mark the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All in 2012.

Gregory Barker: The Department for Energy and Climate Change is working with the Department for International Development to develop plans for UK engagement, including through the UN Secretary General's Sustainable Energy For All initiative, which aims to achieve universal access to energy, improved energy efficiency and enhanced deployment of renewable energy. DECC will support this through their work with DFID to develop programmes on energy access and sustainable energy under the International Climate Fund.

Energy: Meters

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he plans to take in respect of his smart meter rollout to ensure that the system is secure against hacking by third parties.

Charles Hendry: The Government are putting robust arrangements in place for the security of the smart metering system, which have been informed by a rigorous risk assessment. DECC has a dedicated team of security experts within the Smart Metering Implementation Programme, who perform ongoing risk assessments in order to identify the nature of possible threats, including hacking by third parties.
	Security requirements are being developed to minimise: (i) the likelihood of such an event taking place, and (ii) the impact should it occur. The development of these requirements has involved extensive consultation with other Government Departments and relevant agencies, as well as with industry.
	We have a comprehensive risk assessment and we are developing a plan for implementation, which will specify the enduring security governance roles and responsibilities to ensure risks are appropriately managed.

Natural Gas: Exploration

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what (a) policy and (b) legislative proposals he plans to bring forward in respect of the regulation of shale gas exploration.

Charles Hendry: Shale gas exploration is relatively new to the UK and in its early stages and my Department and other key regulatory bodies, including the Health and Safety Executive, the Environment Agency, and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, are working closely together to ensure effective monitoring and appropriate control of these activities.
	As is already the case, applicants for licences have to demonstrate that they have the technical and economic means to conduct operations properly. In future onshore licensing rounds, applicants wishing to explore for shale gas will have to demonstrate that they have the appropriate competences and management systems, including systems to ensure protection of the environment. In addition we will be ensuring that the area and quality of the acreage awarded will not exceed the capacity of the industry, both the oil companies and their supply chain, to deliver their proposed work programmes both in a timely manner and to the highest of standards.
	Overall, we consider that the regulatory system governing UK onshore oil and gas developments, including shale gas, is robust, and that the key regulatory bodies have appropriate powers to regulate these activities. I have accordingly no present plans for new legislation.

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many people (a) nationally and (b) in Milton Keynes unitary authority area have participated in the warm home discount scheme.

Gregory Barker: The Warm Home Discount Scheme launched on 1 April 2011 and covers Great Britain. It will run for four years until end March 2015. The total number of people who have been supported in 2011-12 is not yet known, but an estimated 2 million people are expected to be helped and the scheme will be worth up to £250 million this year.
	Help will be provided in four ways, through:
	The Core Group—this will provide energy supplier funded rebates (worth £120 in winter 2011-12) on electricity bills for people who receive pension credit guarantee credit only and meet some other eligibility criteria. Over 600,000 rebates are expected to be provided this winter.
	The Broader Group—this will provide energy supplier funded rebates (worth £120 in winter 2011-12) on electricity bills for a Broader Group of low income and vulnerable people determined by each energy supplier and agreed with Ofgem.
	Continued help via existing social or discounted fuel tariffs. This will decrease over each year of the scheme as the number of people receiving a rebate in the Broader Group grows.
	Support through industry initiatives carried out by the energy suppliers to provide support to tackle fuel poverty other than direct discounts on energy bills e.g. debt help lines or the provision of energy advice for low income and vulnerable consumers. These will be approved by Ofgem in line with the scheme requirements.
	Regional or, unitary breakdowns are not available.

TRANSPORT

Departmental Procurement

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what account her Department takes of (a) socio-economic factors and (b) potential revenues for the Exchequer in the awarding of contracts.

Norman Baker: Public sector procurers are required to assess value for money from the perspective of the contracting authority using criteria linked to the subject matter of the contract, including compliance with the published specification.
	Wider socio-economic benefits that do not accrue to the contracting authority cannot be taken into account at tender evaluation stage as they do not relate to the subject matter of a contract from the point of view of the contracting authority.
	An assessment of public procurement tendering is being undertaken as part of the growth review. It is intended that the outcome of this assessment will be announced at the end of November.

Large Goods Vehicles

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the status is of her Department's proposed increase in maximum trailer size for articulated heavy goods vehicles; and what assessment she has made of the potential effects of the increase on (a) levels of cyclists' safety and (b) the environment.

Michael Penning: The Government have just published their response to the consultation on the use of longer semi-trailers, including a revised impact assessment which takes account of additional information provided in the course of the consultation. This is available on:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/dft-2011-06
	The impact assessment covers both environmental impact and safety, but does not disaggregate the safety risk between different categories of road user.

Railway Stations: Greater London

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions her Department has had with (a) the Association of Train Operating Companies and (b) Transport for London on the re-zoning of overground train stations in Kingston and Surbiton.

Theresa Villiers: No recent discussions on this subject have been held either with the Association of Train Operating Companies or with Transport for London.

Railways: Concessions

Matthew Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost to the public purse was of travel concessions issued to former employees of British Rail in each year since 1997.

Norman Baker: The information is not held by the Department for Transport as the costs of providing concessionary travel to retired former employees of British Rail is met by the Association of Train Operating Companies.

Rescue Services

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport at what locations the coastguard has used emergency towing vessels in operations off the Scottish coast in the last five years.

Michael Penning: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has tasked an emergency towing vessel to the following locations in Scottish waters in the years 2007 to 2011.
	2007
	One incident—East of Lerwick
	2008
	Three incidents—north of Strathy Point (between Cape Wrath and Dunnet Head); north of Cape Wrath; and west of Skye, Little Minch
	2009
	One incident—Lerwick, Shetland
	2010
	Five incidents—north of Cape Wrath; east of Copinsay, Orkney; west of Skye Bridge: south of Rhum; and Glendanda
	2011
	Two incidents—north-east of Berwick—later berthed Dundee; and north north-east Lerwick

Shipping: Safety

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps she plans to take to ensure that emergency towing vessels are available for spot-purchasing at the time of a reported emergency.

Michael Penning: holding answer 13 October 2011
	Because the Government consider ship salvage to be a commercial matter there are no plans to ensure the provision of emergency towing vessels for spot purchase.

Shipping: Safety

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what average time she expects to elapse between the time of an emergency call-out of a training vessel to (a) the spot purchase of an emergency towing vessel and (b) the arrival of such a vessel on the scene of the incident.

Michael Penning: holding answer 13 October 2011
	It is not possible to be specific about the timetable that would be associated with the provision of salvage in emergency towing.
	Among other things the time to scene will depend on market conditions within the towing and salvage industries, the geographic disposition of vessels and their suitability to the task.
	Since 1 October 2011 the Scotland Office has been responsible for leading efforts to secure a long-term replacement for the emergency towing vessel (ETV) service in waters around Scotland surrounding the Northern and Western Isles.

Shipping: Safety

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate she has made of the number of emergency towing vessels that can be spot-purchased.

Michael Penning: holding answer 13 October 2011
	It is not possible to estimate or accurately forecast the number of emergency towing vessels available at either a suitable time or place to service a spot-purchase when needed.
	The principal towage and salvage brokers monitor the towage market continually and track the availability of tugs.
	The brokers provide the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) with real-time information that they can use when coordinating a response to drifting and disabled ships.
	Since 1 October 2011 the Scotland Office has been responsible for leading efforts to secure a long-term replacement for the emergency towing vessel (ETV) service in waters around Scotland surrounding the Northern and Western Isles.

Shipping: Scotland

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions her Department has had with the private maritime sector in Scotland on proposed changes to the maritime safety, emergency salvage and rescue operations in Scotland.

Michael Penning: holding answer 13 October 2011
	The proposals for the modernisation of Her Majesty's Coastguard have been subject to two UK wide consultations since December 2010. These consultations have included the private maritime sector.
	Meetings were convened to discuss and consider the arrangements for emergency towage and salvage, following the end of the contract for the provision of emergency towing vessels (ETVs). These included a wide range of participants from a broad spectrum of maritime interests, including tug operators, commercial and Ministry of Defence salvors, and shipping industry representatives, in addition to port authorities, lighthouse authorities, local government authorities and officials for the Scottish Government.
	Since 1 October 2011 the Scotland Office has been responsible for leading efforts to secure a long-term replacement for the emergency towing vessel (ETV) service in waters around Scotland surrounding the Northern and Western Isles.

TREASURY

Banks: Finance

Owen Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the optimal leverage ratio for UK banks.

Mark Hoban: The optimal level of leverage will depend on the risk profile of the assets and exposures which vary from bank to bank and over time. Given a lack of consistent time series data and the presence of varying bank business models, it is not possible to determine with a high level of confidence an optimal leverage ratio for a wide range of banks and over an extended period of time. However there is evidence that banks can be excessively leveraged and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) has published relevant analysis, indicating that banks which had particularly high levels of leverage prior to the financial crisis were more likely to experience stress during that period. Further details of the BCBS's analysis can be found at:
	http://www.bis.org/publ/bcbs180.pdf
	As part of the Basel III agreement, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision agreed to introduce a non-risked based leverage ratio to constrain the build-up of leverage in the banking sector and provide a backstop to risk weight based capital requirements. This will help reduce the leverage ratio for banks to a more sustainable level. In the EU, Basel III will be implemented through legislation on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms, which the Commission adopted proposals for on 20 July 2011.

Civil Servants: Pensions

Phillip Lee: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many retired civil servants received pre-tax pensions of over (a) £50,000 and (b) £100,000 per year in the last year for which figures are available.

Francis Maude: I have been asked to reply.
	As at 31 October 2011 there were 484,500 former civil servants in receipt of a pension from the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme. Of these, 969 were receiving pre-tax pensions over £50,000 per annum including 12 who were in receipt of pre-tax pensions over £100,000 per annum.

Departmental Consultants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many full-time equivalent staff are employed on consultancy contracts in his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Chloe Smith: HM Treasury does not capture and/or record the quantity of resource deployed by suppliers, who are responsible for managing their resources to deliver the outcomes as agreed in these contracts. This information could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.

Equitable Life Assurance Society

Alun Cairns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will assess the findings of the investigation by the Equitable Members Action Group Ltd and David Forfar in respect of pre-1992 with profits annuitants; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: I am aware of Mr Forfar's work, but the exclusion of pre-September 1992 with profits annuitants is determined not by their investment performance but by the application of the ombudsman's report.

Monetary Policy

David Blunkett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made about whether quantitative easing is a necessary condition for his Department's plans for credit easing.

Mark Hoban: The purpose of quantitative easing (QE) is to provide the independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) with an additional policy tool to low interest rates, which can be used to support nominal demand in the economy in order to meet the inflation target in the medium term.
	The Government are considering options on credit easing. Such interventions should complement the MPC's QE. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the right hon. Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), will provide more details on credit easing at the Autumn Statement on 29 November.

National Insurance Contributions: Gedling

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many businesses in Gedling constituency have participated in the National Insurance contribution holiday scheme since its introduction.

David Gauke: As of 25 October 2011, HMRC has received 8,761 successful applications for the NICs holiday. A breakdown by constituency, information on the amounts claimed and jobs supported will be published in the NICs holiday factsheet in the House of Commons Library in the autumn.

Research and Development Tax Credit

Julian Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many small and medium-sized enterprises claimed research and development tax relief in the last year for which figures are available.

David Gauke: Numbers of companies claiming R and D tax credits each year under the scheme for small and medium-sized enterprises are published on the HM Revenue and Customs website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/corporate_tax/randdtcmenu.htm

Third Sector

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  whether he has received representations concerning (a) the Big Society Bank, (b) the Work Programme and (c) volunteering since June 2011; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what discussions he has had about promoting social enterprises within his Department's area of responsibility in each month since May 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Chloe Smith: holding reply sent 27 October 2011
	Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations from a variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with the previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings and discussions. Details of meetings between Treasury Ministers and external organisations are published quarterly on the HMT website.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Departmental Procurement

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 18 October 2011, Official Report, columns 856-58W, on departmental procurement, whether any of the contracts are for providing consulting services with full-time equivalent staff working for his Department; and if he will make a statement.

John Penrose: None of the contracts are for providing consulting services with full-time equivalent staff working for this Department.

Departmental Procurement

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 18 October 2011, Official Report, columns 856-58W, on departmental procurement, whether any of the contracts were not put out to tender; and for what reasons.

John Penrose: In accordance with departmental policy, some low value contracts (under £1,000) were not put out to tender as it would not have been cost-effective for either the Department or the potential supplier. In a small number of other cases there was only one suitable supplier with the expertise and capability of delivering the very specific service the contract demanded, however, again, these examples only affected contracts of low monetary value.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport whether he receives any external funding for (a) his ministerial office and (b) his advisers; and what the (i) source and (ii) amount is of any such funding.

John Penrose: The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), receives no external funding for his ministerial office or special advisers.

Third Sector

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how much funding his Department has provided in grant in aid to each arm's length body for which he is responsible in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and how much he expects to allocate to each body in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

John Penrose: The grant in aid shown in the following table has been, or is planned to be, made available to the Department’s arm's length bodies for the period 2010-11 to 2014-15:
	
		
			 Grant in aid 
			 £ million 
			 Body 2010-11  (1) 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 
			 British Museum 46.343 53.664 44.016 43.393 43.267 
			 Natural History Museum 48.586 46.480 45.760 45.204 45.172 
		
	
	
		
			 Imperial War Museum 23.910 21.706 21.436 21.239 21.273 
			 National Gallery 28.201 26.744 26.320 25.980 25.911 
			 National Maritime Museum 19.002 17.058 16.848 16.693 16.723 
			 National Museums Liverpool 23.712 21.875 21.561 21.323 21.327 
			 National Portrait Gallery 7.577 7.398 7.277 7.183 7.172 
			 National Museum of Science and Industry 40.153 37.582 37.026 36.602 36.596 
			 Tate Gallery 54.729 34.605 34.912 34.837 33.441 
			 Victoria and Albert Museum 44.318 41.355 40.705 40:203 40.167 
			 Wallace Collection 4.212 2.983 2.946 2.918 2.922 
			 Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester 4.882 3.998 3.927 3.871 3.860 
			 Sir John Soane's Museum 1.169 1.130 1.111 1.096 1.094 
			 Horniman Museum 4.518 4.275 4.199 4.139 4.127 
			 Geffrye Museum 1.773 1.674 1.645 1.621 1.616 
			 Royal Armouries 8.389 7.901 7.773 7.673 7.662 
			 British Library 105.847 107.473 96.286 93,544 93.407 
			 Public Lending Right 7.451 7,218 7.084 6.977 6.956 
			 Museums, Libraries and Archives Council(2) 15.218 6.526 — — — 
			 Arts Council England 437.523 387.729 359.179 351.620 349.393 
			 Sport England 121.389 95.391 93.690 87.692 85.896 
			 United Kingdom Sports Council 55.363 60.301 65.316 39.330 43.345 
			 United Kingdom Anti-Doping 6.372 6.344 6.498 6.164 5.852 
			 Football Licensing Authority 0.980 1.197 1.176 1.158 1.142 
			 English Heritage 129.854 114.743 103.362 97.764 96.961 
			 Churches Conservation Trust 3.162 2.926 2.828 2.743 2.695 
			 Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment(2) 4.690 3.427 — — — 
			 National Heritage Memorial Fund 0.000 0.000 5.000 10.000 5.000 
			 The Royal Parks 17.094 15.710 15.027 14.426 13.857 
			 VisitBritain (including VisitEngland) 40.323 35.892 33.092 30.892 28.708 
			 UK Film Council(2) 45.563 — — — — 
			 Welsh Fourth Channel Authority (S4C)(3) 99.647 90.000 83.000 6.700 7.000 
			 Gambling Commission 0.481 — — — — 
			 Olympic Delivery Authority(4) 971.260 1066.100 569.100 7.300 105.000 
			 (1 )2010-11 figures represent final outturn data. (2) Denotes bodies which are being abolished. (3) From 2013-14, S4C will receive additional funding from the BBC. (4) Net capital receipts assumed in spending review during 2014-15.

World War I: Anniversaries

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what plans his Department has to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 21 October 2011
	Traditionally, we mark the anniversary of the conclusion of a conflict rather than its beginning. So the main commemorations will be on the centenary of the end of the First World War in 1918. However, given the importance of the centenary of world war one, a number of anniversaries of key events from 2014 to 2018, including the beginning of the war, will be marked in an appropriate way. The Prime Minister has asked my hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison) to act as his special representative and coordinator for world war one commemorations. Dr Murrison will work with international partners to ensure that the UK plays a full and active role; and will coordinate the cross-Whitehall effort in respect of the commemorations.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Civil Servants: Procurement

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the cost of employing civil servants to undertake procurement for his Department in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11; and what estimate he has made of the cost of (i) employing civil servants and (ii) engaging consultants to undertake procurement for his Department in 2011-12.

Bob Neill: The total pay costs (including employer's contributions) of employing permanent civil servants to undertake procurement are given in the following table (which also includes the cost of Agency staff during this period):
	
		
			 £ 
			  2008-9 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Permanent staff 732,141 1,140,377 1,347,115 1,335,000 
			 Agency staff 42,247 44,306 10,145 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Total staff 774,388 1,184,683 1,357,260 1,335,000 
		
	
	In 2009-10 the overall number of procurement staff was increased to address a number of performance related issues raised after a review of the Department's procurement capability. During this period agency staff were used as a temporary measure.
	The Department’s business plan estimates expenditure of £1.3 million on employing civil servants to undertake procurement in the current year, 2011-12. The Department has no plans to engage consultants to undertake procurement and has made no estimates of the cost of engaging such consultants.
	The Department’s procurement team managed £222 million of expenditure in 2010-11. The work involved contract management of existing contractual arrangements and tendering new requirements.

Departmental Advertising

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department has spent on advertising job vacancies since May 2010.

Bob Neill: My Department has not spent any money directly on job advertising since May 2010.
	It did spend £1,614 on a fee to an executive search agency for a senior post; this was initially commissioned in April 2010 under the last Administration.
	To place such spending in context, the Department spent £601,605 on advertising (of all types) in 2009-10.

Departmental Procurement

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what contracts of a monetary value of (a) between £100,000 and £500,000, (b) between £500,000 and £1 million, (c) between £1 million and £5 million, (d) between £5 million and £10 million, (e) between £10 million and £50 million, (f) between £50 million and £100 million, (g) between £100 million and £500 million, (h) between £500 million and £1 billion, (i) between £1 billion and £5 billion and (j) over £5 billion his Department and its predecessors have entered into with private suppliers in each year since 1990.

Bob Neill: The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	In accordance with the Government's transparency agenda the Department is publishing all contract awards from January 2011 on the Contracts Finder website:
	http://www.contractsfinder.co.uk

Departmental Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what company or Government service is used to undertake security vetting at (a) counter terrorist check, (b) security check and (c) developed vetting level in his Department.

Bob Neill: The Department for Communities and Local Government uses Defence Business Services National Security Vetting to undertake security vetting at (a) counter terrorist check, (b) security check and (c) developed vetting level.

Departmental Travel

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department has spent on first class travel by (a) air, (b) boat and (c) train since May 2010.

Bob Neill: The following table details the Department’s expenditure on first class travel from the last financial year and the current financial year:
	
		
			  Financial year 
			 1st Class Travel 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12  (1) 
			 Boat 0 0 0 
			 Air 945 0 0 
			 Train 199,516 28.479 12,178 
			 (1) To 14 September 2011 
		
	
	These figures are taken from management information supplied by the Department’s travel management company.
	These figures show how this Government are making significant savings in the running of the Department compared to the waste and excess that was a hallmark of the last administration.

EU Grants and Loans

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he plans to allocate funds received from the European Regional Development Fund to projects in the English regions.

Grant Shapps: The English European Regional Development Fund programmes are currently allocating funds and have until the end of 2015 to complete spending.

Local Government: Consultants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which private sector companies are providing free consultancy services to each local authority; and what the nature of the services provided is in each case.

Bob Neill: Information on which private sector companies are providing free consultancy to local authorities is not collected centrally by the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Tenants

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what consideration he has given to housing tenure reform as part of the big society initiative.

Andrew Stunell: The Government have embarked on a radical programme to shift power from Whitehall to the local level—to councils, housing associations and communities. Through the Localism Bill we are reforming the social housing system to make it fairer, striking a proper balance between the needs of new and existing tenants.
	There will be no change to the security and rights of existing social tenants.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces: Military Aircraft

Sheryll Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many (a) maintenance crew and (b) airframes there are in the (i) RAF, (ii) Fleet Air Arm and (iii) Army Air Corps; [R]
	(2)  how many aircraft per squadron there are in the (a) RAF, (b) Fleet Air Arm and (c) Army Air Corps; [R]

Peter Luff: Aircraft maintenance is carried out by service personnel, Ministry of Defence civilians and as part of contractual agreements with industry across all three services. Relevant data are not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Information on the number of aircraft per squadron is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The number of aircraft assigned to front line squadrons will vary on a daily basis according to normal fleet management activities, including requirements for mandated maintenance and upgrade programmes.
	The number of aircraft in-service with the RAF, Fleet Air Arm and Army Air Corps is provided in the following table.
	
		
			 Aircraft type In-service fleet (number) 
			 Apache 67 
			 BAE 146 2 
			 BAE125 6 
			 C-17 7 
			 Chinook Mk 2/2a 38 
			 Chinook Mk 3 8 
			 Defender Mk 1 9 
			 Gazelle 35 
			 Hawk T1 129 
			 Hawk T2 28 
			 Hercules C130K 8 
			 Hercules C130J 24 
			 Islander Mk 1 3 
			 Islander Mk 2 3 
			 King Air 4 
			 LynxMk3 13 
			 Lynx Mk 7 50 
			 LynxMk8 33 
			 Lynx Mk 9/9a 22 
			 Merlin Mk 1 42 
			 Merlin Mk 3/3a 28 
			 Puma 31 
		
	
	
		
			 Sea King Mk 3/3a 25 
			 Sea King Mk 4 37 
			 Sea King Mk 5 16 
			 Sea King Mk 7 13 
			 Sentinel 5 
			 Sentry 7 
			 Tornado 136 
			 Tri-Star 8 
			 Tucano 91 
			 Typhoon 82 
			 VC10 12 
			 Vigilant 65 
			 Viking 82

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Sheryll Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of the 2011 intake at joint services command and staff college are from the (a) Army, (b) RAF and (c) Royal Navy. [R]

Peter Luff: As at 31 October 2011 the Joint Services Command and Staff College had the following UK military students on courses:
	
		
			 Course Royal Navy/Royal Marines/Royal Fleet Auxiliary Army Royal Air Force 
			 Advanced Command and Staff Course 55 66 66 
			 Intermediate Command and Staff Courses 47 154 54 
			 Total 102 220 120

Armed Forces: Young People

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department has taken to review its policy on minimum age recruitment to the armed services since the UK's ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict in 2003.

Peter Luff: We remain fully committed to meeting our obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, and have taken steps to bestow special safeguards on young people under the age of 18, including the introduction of administrative guidelines to ensure that they are withdrawn from units which are deploying on operations. We believe that our policies on under 18s in service are robust and comply with national and international law. The minimum age at which individuals may join the armed forces remains at 16 years, which broadly reflects the minimum statutory school leaving age. There are no plans to change this.
	We take pride in the fact that our armed forces provide challenging and constructive education, training and employment opportunities for young people equipping them with valuable and transferable skills.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate the value of the work for each of the sub-contractors in the Lockheed Martin UK Warrior Transformation Team.

Peter Luff: This is a matter for Lockheed Martin UK who has responsibility for these sub-contracts.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate what proportion of the monetary value of the work on the Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme will be undertaken in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales, (d) Northern Ireland and (e) overseas over the course of that contract.

Peter Luff: The Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme will create and sustain approximately 600 British jobs within prime contractor, Lockheed Martin UK and its supply chain, representing 90% UK content, as the programme moves through the demonstration and manufacture phases. As a percentage of total contract value, approximately 83% of the work will be carried out in England, 7% in Scotland and 10% overseas.
	The monetary value of sub-contracts that contribute to the overall programme is a matter for Lockheed Martin UK.

AWE Aldermaston

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the projected cost is of the Technology Development Centre to be built at Aldermaston.

Peter Luff: I am withholding the information as its disclosure would prejudice commercial interests and impact on the formulation or development of Government policy.

British Army Training Unit Suffield

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on the British Army Training Unit Suffield in each of the last 10 years.

Peter Luff: Records of the amount the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has spent on the British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) only exist for the last five years and are provided in the following table:
	
		
			 Financial year £ million 
			 2006-07 32.5 
			 2007-08 39.8 
			 2008-09 38.9 
			 2009-10 58.0 
			 2010-11 55.3 
		
	
	These figures exclude manpower costs for military and MOD civil servants, and also for stock consumption, since these costs would be incurred wherever the Army is training.
	The costs do include the impact of foreign exchange variations which accounts for an element of the increase between years 2008-09 and 2009-10, along with an increase in training activity at BATUS across the same period.

British Army Training Unit Suffield

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the likely effect on the cost of army training facilities of transferring such facilities from Germany to the British Army Training Unit Suffield.

Peter Luff: The training that currently takes place in Germany is unit-level training and similar training also takes place in the UK. This training is conducted close to where individual units are based and we do not anticipate this changing in the future. The training that takes place in the British Army Training Unit, Suffield (B ATUS) is higher level collective training, where a number of units join together to form battle groups for large scale exercises in preparation for deployment. For this reason, no assessment has been made of the costs of transferring Germany-based training facilities to the BATUS.

Clyde Submarine Base

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate the cost of the refurbishment of the explosives handling jetty at RNAD Coulport.

Andrew Robathan: The latest estimated total cost (including VAT) of the refurbishment of the explosives handling jetty at RNAD Coulport is £31.70 million.
	The project is on budget and on target to reach completion in December this year, approximately six months ahead of the original programme.

Departmental Responsibilities

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many applications from employees to run services for which his Department is directly responsible he has received since May 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: There have been no formal applications to date. However, the Ministry of Defence continues to provide support to employees from two business areas as they consider whether to make an application.

IRG

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department has awarded any contracts to IRG Ltd.

Peter Luff: The Ministry of Defence's contracts database has no record of contracts placed with Iraq Research Group Ltd in recent years.

Italy: Unmanned Air Vehicles

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the outcome was of discussions between his Department and the Italian Government on medium altitude long endurance unmanned aerial vehicles.

Peter Luff: Recent engagements between the UK Ministry of Defence and Italian Government have provided both nations the opportunity to share their views on medium altitude long endurance, unmanned aerial vehicles. The UK has undertaken to work bilaterally with France on this capability, as stated at the 2010 UK-France Summit and our first priority is therefore to ensure the success of this agreement.

Nuclear Power Stations: Safety

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department is conducting nuclear stress tests as required by the European Commission for defence nuclear establishments and reactors.

Peter Luff: All duty holders in the defence nuclear programme are undertaking work to consider the application of lessons to be learnt from the Fukushima event. Although outside the scope of the European Commission's remit, this work is being informed by the stress tests developed by the European Nuclear Safety Regulatory Group adapted to be appropriate to the activity concerned.

Nuclear Power Stations: Safety

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a redacted copy of his review of the safety of the defence nuclear programme in the light of the Fukushima nuclear accident.

Peter Luff: Redacted copies of the preliminary report, and supporting initial statement by the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator will be placed in the Library of the House as soon as reasonably possible. It is intended that the final report will also be placed in the public domain in due course.

Somalia: Peacekeeping Operations

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on (a) training Ugandan and Burundian soldiers to serve in the Amisom force and (b) funding Amisom operations in Somalia in each of the last three years.

Peter Luff: The British Government often trains alongside or assists in the training of other nations' troops. The United Kingdom's support to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) is funded through the Conflict Pool, not the Defence budget.
	The Conflict Pool, which is constructed from joint Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Department for International Development and Ministry of Defence (MOD) funding, has provided funding for MOD support to the training of the armed forces of Uganda and Burundi serving in AMISOM as follows:
	
		
			 £ 
			  Uganda Burundi 
			 2008-09 0 0 
			 2009-10 0 25,000 
			 2010-11 430,000 199,000 
		
	
	Technical support to AMISOM operations is also funded through the Conflict Pool and paid for by both the FCO and the MOD. It has amounted to:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2008-09 98,100 
			 2009-10 796,000 
			 2010-11 3,450,000 
		
	
	These figures exclude the UK's assessed contributions to the United Nations and European Union support to AMISOM. These are paid by the FCO.

Warships

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many warships are available for active service in the Navy.

Peter Luff: Details of the number of Royal Navy warships available, in various states of readiness, for active service are provided in the following table:
	
		
			  Number 
			 Landing Platform Helicopter (1)2 
			 Landing Platform Dock 2 
			 Type 45 Destroyer 3 
			 Type 42 Destroyer 4 
			 Type 23 Frigate 13 
			 Hunt Class Mine Counter Measures Vessel 8 
			 Sandown Class Mine Counter Measures Vessel 7 
			 River Class Offshore Patrol Vessels 3 
			 River Class Offshore Patrol Vessels (Helicopter) 1 
			 P2000 Patrol Boats 18 
			 Ocean Survey Vessels 1 
			 Coastal Survey Vessels 3 
			 Ice Patrol Ship 1 
			 Ships Submersible Ballistic Nuclear 4 
			 Ship Submersible Nuclear 7 
			 (1) HMS Illustrious is now operating in the Landing Platform Helicopter role, as well as HMS Ocean.

Yemen

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) material and (b) technical support his Department provided to the Yemeni Government in each of the last five years.

Peter Luff: Given the serious threat al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) poses to UK national security, Her Majesty’s Government have been working with the Yemeni Government for a number of years supporting them in disrupting AQAP. This support has included training, delivered both in Yemen and in UK, and the provision of a limited amount of non-lethal equipment. At the centre of our all training and support is a commitment to promoting human rights. The UK Government seek assurances that the forces we are involved with will not be deployed on operations outside of their mandate or in breach of human rights.
	The UK has provided professional development training for officers of the Yemeni security forces as follows:
	
		
			  Number of students 
			 2006 5 
			 2007 7 
			 2008 6 
			 2009 7 
			 2010 9 
		
	
	This training includes elements which enhance an individual’s understanding of the control and employment of security forces in accordance with the rule of law.
	At the request of the Yemeni Government the UK provided training for the Yemeni Central Security Force Public Order Battalion in October 2010 and February 2011. The aim of this training was to reduce the use of lethal force in public order situations and address a source of grievance among Yemeni citizens by developing the capability of the Yemeni Central Security Forces to be able to deal with public order situations in an accountable and professional manner. The training, which was conducted in Yemen, included human rights and law of armed conflict training at the request of the Yemenis; escalation and de-escalation drills were included as were the principles of use of minimum force. As part of this training package a small amount of non-hazardous and non-lethal public order equipment, to the value of £90,000, was gifted to Yemen from surplus UK stocks in order to cover Yemeni capability gaps and to ensure that UK techniques could be taught and applied correctly. This equipment was delivered to the Yemeni Central Security Force in February 2011.
	The UK has also worked with the Yemeni Counter Terrorism Unit, in concert with other donors, to increase Yemen's capability to tackle AQAP, including training and advice over the past five years and the provision of equipment and infrastructure in financial year 2010-11. The UK has also delivered training, advice and the provision of rigid inflatable boats to the Yemeni coastguard, based in both Sana'a and Aden, since 2005, as part of our wider counterterrorism and regional security efforts.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s counterterrorism programme is the principal funding stream for the Government’s counterterrorism work overseas, overseen by a cross-government programme board. A decision to fund a particular project is taken only after an assessment of possible impacts and human rights implications has been completed.
	The political and security situation in Sana'a has deteriorated significantly this year; consequently this training was suspended in May 2011.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Departmental Consultants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff working for his Department in (a) France and (b) the US were employed as consultants in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not hold a central record of consultants working in overseas missions. Procurement activities are devolved to directorates in the UK and a network of nearly 270 posts overseas. The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Any use of consultants would be subject to rigorous scrutiny and the acceptance of a business case.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he receives any external funding for (a) his ministerial office and (b) his advisers; and what the (i) source and (ii) amount is of any such funding.

David Lidington: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), receives no external funding for either (a) his ministerial office or (b) his advisers.

Departmental Responsibilities

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs at how many events organised by (a) charities, (b) other civil society groups, (c) businesses and (d) lobbying organisations Ministers and senior officials in his Department have given speeches in each month since May 2010; and if he will make a statement.

David Lidington: This information is not held centrally and is available only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Responsibilities

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications from employees to run services for which his Department is directly responsible he has received since May 2010; and if he will make a statement.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has no record of any applications from employees to run services. I refer the hon. Member to my answer to him of 20 October 2011, Official Report, column 1108W.

Departmental Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what level of security vetting is required for the post of (a) head of communications, (b) deputy head of communications and (c) head of press office in his Department; and if he will list each person who has held these posts since May 2010.

David Lidington: The booklet “HMG Personnel Security Controls”, describes the circumstances in which a post may require the holder to be the subject of national security vetting checks and is publicly available on the Cabinet Office website at:
	www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/hmg-personnel-security-controls
	Since May 2010, the posts mentioned have been held by: (a) Ian Hargreaves and then Andrew Whyte (director of communications); (b) no post with this title exists; (c) Carl Newns.

Government Communications Headquarters: Finance

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the budget was for GCHQ in each of the last two years; what the planned budget is in each of the next three years; and if he will make a statement.

David Lidington: The budgets for the Security Service, SIS and GCHQ form the Single Intelligence Account (SIA) which is voted by Parliament as a consolidated allocation. It has been the policy of successive Governments not to reveal details of the individual Agency budgets beyond what is already published. Most recently the overall SIA budget details can be found at paragraphs 39 and 41 of the Intelligence and Security Committee's (ISC) 2010-11 Annual Report which was published on 13 July 2011 (Cm 8114).

IRG

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had meetings with representatives of IRG Ltd.

David Lidington: Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers in this Government have no record or recollection of having held a meeting with representatives of IRG Ltd. In July 2010, Mr Stephen Crouch approached the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for North West Norfolk (Mr Bellingham), at Juba airport and they spoke briefly.

Kosovo: Borders

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the border dispute in Kosovo.

David Lidington: I am following the situation in northern Kosovo very closely and receive frequent detailed reporting from officials. I discussed this issue with Serbian leaders during my visit to Belgrade on 31 October to 1 November. The issue was also discussed by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), when he met the Kosovo Foreign Minister on 20 October.
	The situation in northern Kosovo remains tense but calm. The border points are open and under EULEX control, with NATO’s peacekeeping force, KFOR, providing security. There has been no repeat of the 27 September attack on KFOR troops. Kosovo Serb barricades remain across northern Kosovo. KFOR has started to remove the barriers in conformity with its mandate to guarantee security and freedom of movement.
	The EU-facilitated Dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia offers the best opportunity for Pristina and Belgrade to resolve their differences in a way that improves the lives of their people and helps both countries progress in a more stable manner towards EU accession. We urge the governments of Kosovo and Serbia to reengage in the Dialogue as soon as possible and to implement those agreements already reached.

UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the likely effect of the adoption in its present form of the draft protocol on cluster munitions in the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons on universalisation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions and promotion of its norms as required under Article 21.

Alistair Burt: We believe that engaging in negotiations for a protocol on cluster munitions in the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) is consistent with paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 21. These are negotiations within the framework of an International Humanitarian Law treaty. They are aiming to establish restrictions on a significant number of cluster munitions, which would have a notable humanitarian effect. A protocol could serve as a first step towards wider prohibitions for those states not in a position to accede to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in the near future. Irrespective of the outcome of negotiations at the CCW we will continue to encourage non-party states to accede to the Oslo Convention with the goal of universalising the Convention.

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what legal advice his Department has received on the Government's interpretative declaration on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.

Jeremy Browne: It is not Government practice to disclose whether they have sought legal advice or the content of any advice obtained. The UK played a full and active role in negotiations leading to the drafting of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. The UK signed the Optional Protocol in September 2000 and ratified on 24 June 2003. The Government's understanding of their obligations is clarified by the interpretive declaration they made upon signature and confirmed upon ratification. This made clear that the armed forces would continue to recruit from age 16 but included a clear commitment to take all feasible measures to ensure those who had not yet reached the age of 18 years old did not take a direct part in hostilities. The Government remains fully committed to meeting their obligations under the Protocol and welcomes the steps that have been taken to bestow special safeguards on young people under 18. We believe that our policies on under 18s are robust and compliant with national and international law. We will continue to keep them under review.

World War I: Anniversaries

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans his Department has to mark the 100(th) anniversary of the start of the First World War.

David Lidington: holding answer 21 October 2011
	Traditionally, we mark the anniversary of the conclusion of a conflict rather than its beginning. So the main commemorations will be on the centenary of the end of the First World War in 1918. However, given the importance of the centenary of World War 1, a number of anniversaries of key events from 2014 to 2018, including the beginning of the war, will be marked in an appropriate way. The Prime Minister has asked my hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison), to act as his Special Representative and Co-ordinator for World War 1 Commemorations. Dr Murrison will work with international partners to ensure that the UK plays a full and active role; and will co-ordinate the cross-Whitehall effort in respect of the commemorations.

Yemen

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what (a) material and (b) technical support his Department provided to the Yemeni Government in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Browne: The UK has provided material and technical support to the Yemeni Government over the last five years as part of our counter terrorism assistance to reduce the risk from international terrorism to the UK and UK interests overseas. We have been working with the Yemeni Government to increase Yemen’s capability to tackle Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, including through the provision of training and advice, for example to the Yemeni Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) and Yemeni Coastguard. Since the escalation in violence both projects have now been suspended. All our capacity building is delivered in accordance with UK values and human rights standards. Before providing any military support or training to Yemeni forces, the UK Government seek assurances that these forces will not be deployed on operations outside of their mandate or in breach of human rights. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) Counter Terrorism Programme is the principal funding stream underpinning Her Majesty's Government’s Counter Terrorism projects overseas. The FCO’s total worldwide Counter Terrorism Programme budget: for financial year (FY) 2011-12— £38 million, FY 2010-11—£38 million, FY 2009-10— £37 million, FY 2008-09—£35 million, FY 2007-08— £16.3 million. In each financial year a proportion of these annual allocations are committed to programmes in Yemen. The majority of our funding in Yemen is delivered through Ministry of Defence projects. Since the attempted aviation attack in Detroit in December 2009, we have also committed funds to assist the Yemeni authorities to improve security at the international airport in Sana'a. Funding has been allocated to provide x-ray machines and electronic trace detection equipment at a cost of £427,000. We have also provided training for Yemeni airport personnel in Dubai and Amman.
	The FCO, together with the Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence, contributes to and administers the conflict pool. In the period in question several projects were agreed which have benefited the Government of Yemen in terms of technical expertise. No money was committed directly to the Government of Yemen. Projects involved technical funding to support the work of the Yemeni authorities in addition to training and guidance. These are as follows: 2006-07 border security costing £25,267; 2008-09 Ministry of the Interior CTU and coastguard development costing £93,844; 2009-10 Yemeni Coastguard development costing £50,563; 2010-11 officer training in the UK costing £145,200 and public order training, scaled down to the gifting of non-lethal surplus equipment. In the current financial year funding has been allocated to provide further officer training, but none has yet been spent.
	A small bilateral programmes budget is administered by the embassy in Sana'a. While most of the work funded does not involve the Government of Yemen, one recent project was resourced to provide support to the Ministry of the Interior, specifically setting up the first Regional Maritime Security Conference.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Animal Welfare

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will estimate the number of domestic dogs and cats injured by snares in England in the latest period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.

James Paice: These figures are not held centrally.

Cattle: Exports

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with the European Commission on the granting of subsidies for live cattle exports to non-EU countries.

James Paice: Since December 2005, the only live cattle exports to third countries that qualify for any financial assistance are live female breeding animals that must meet specific criteria in relation to their age and weight. The payment of export refunds is subject to compliance with European Union legislation on the protection of animals during transport.
	There have been no discussions between DEFRA Ministers and the European Commission regarding this issue. However, DEFRA officials attend the Monthly Animal Products Management Committee meetings in Brussels and discuss exports and other issues relating to the market in beef and veal, with the European Commission and other member states.

Dogs

Jackie Doyle-Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she plans to bring forward measures to encourage responsible dog ownership; and if she will make a statement.

James Paice: We appreciate that the issue of irresponsible ownership of dogs is causing concern to many local communities. It is not just a problem of dangerous breeds of dogs, but one of irresponsible dog owners. Those owners need to be held to account and stopped from ruining people's lives. We have been engaged with key interested parties both inside and outside Government, including police and animal welfare organisations, concerning measures to promote more responsible dog ownership. It is essential to make sure that better public protection does not place unnecessary burdens on the vast majority of dog owners in this country who act responsibly and care for their pets. We are considering a range of measures to promote more responsible ownership of dogs and will shortly announce measures to make our communities safer.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Equality and Human Rights Commission: Manpower

John McDonnell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities whether the Government Equalities Office has discussed with officials of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) the employment of (a) interim consultants and (b) non-permanent staff by the EHRC; and if she will place in the Library copies of any correspondence on this matter between her officials and the EHRC.

Lynne Featherstone: The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) must get its finances in shape, reduce costs, and end its dependence on expensive interim staff. The Government Equalities Office continues to discuss these issues with the Commission.
	I do not consider it appropriate to publish the relevant correspondence, as officials need to be able to have full and frank discussions about operational management without fear of disclosure.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Departmental Public Expenditure

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he receives any external funding for (a) his ministerial office and (b) his advisers; and what the (i) source and (ii) amount is of any such funding.

Nicholas Clegg: I do not receive external funding for my ministerial office or my official advisers. As a party leader, party staff provide me with political advice.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Bona Vacantia

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Attorney-General how many calls the telephone inquiry line operated by the Bona Vacantia Division of the Treasury Solicitor's Department received in each of the last five years.

Edward Garnier: The Bona Vacantia Division of the Treasury Solicitor's Department introduced a new automated telephony system from February 2011. The number of calls received by the Bona Vacantia Inquiry Line for the period from February 2011 until the end of September 2011 is 11,429.
	Inquiry calls received by Bona Vacantia Division prior to February 2011 cannot be separately identified without incurring disproportionate cost.

Departmental Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the Attorney-General 
	(1)  what level of security vetting is required for the post of (a) head of communications, (b) deputy head of communications and (c) head of press office in the Law Officers' departments; and if he will list each person who has held these posts since May 2010;
	(2)  what level of security vetting is required for (a) grade six and seven, or equivalent, press officers and (b) ministerial private secretaries in the Law Officers' departments;
	(3)  what level of security vetting is required for (a) special advisers and (b) ministerial-appointed policy advisers in the Law Officers' departments; and if he will list each person who has held these posts since May 2010.

Edward Garnier: It would not be appropriate to provide details of the levels of security vetting or other information on specific posts within the Law Officers' Departments, as this could highlight who within a Department has access to sensitive material and be used for targeting purposes. The Cabinet Office has issued guidance on civil service security vetting procedures entitled 'HMG Personnel Security Controls', which is published online at:
	www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/hmg-personnel-security-controls
	The Law Officers’ Departments do not employ any special advisors or policy advisors appointed by Ministers.

Departmental Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the Attorney-General what company or Government service is used to undertake security vetting at (a) counter terrorist check, (b) security check and (c) developed vetting level in the Law Officers' departments.

Edward Garnier: When clearance is required at CTC, SC and DV levels the Law Officers' Departments uses the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting. In some specific cases the Attorney-General's Office might also ask the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to conduct this vetting.
	All checks are carried out in accordance with Cabinet Office guidelines.

JUSTICE

Legal Aid Scheme

Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent discussions he has had on the time taken for payment of legal aid fees since the process was centralised.

Jonathan Djanogly: Between February and April 2011 payments of legal aid fees to advocates transferred from individual Crown court centres to the Legal Services Commission. An issue was identified in some cases where the computer system had not been updated correctly to show that the case had moved from the magistrates court to the Crown court. This meant some claims needed to be returned to Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service for resolution, leading to delays in making payments. Provisions were put in place to expedite claims in the case of genuine financial hardship as a result of the payment delays. The LSC resolved the system problem at the end of June and a recovery plan was immediately implemented to clear the backlog of cases that had built up as a result of this issue. I understand that payments are now being made in around eight and a half weeks, against a published target of eight weeks. If the volume of claims remains at current levels the LSC expect to process claims within the eight week target soon.

Prisons: Health Services

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which bodies will be responsible for the health care of people in prisons in England and Wales following the closure of primary care trusts.

Paul Burstow: I have been asked to reply.
	Subject to legislation, responsibility for commissioning national health service health care services for prisoners in England will transfer to the NHS Commissioning Board from primary care trusts after April 2013. Health care services for prisoners in Wales are the responsibility of the Welsh Government.

Reoffenders

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many convictions for repeat offenders there were in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency, (b) London and (c) England in each of the last 10 years.

Crispin Blunt: The table shows the number of offenders convicted and sentenced for indictable offences by area and criminal history, 2001-10. These figures relate to separate sentencing occasions and therefore an offender may be included on more than one occasion, either within an area, across areas, or across time.
	Figures for the Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency are not available; figures have been provided for Bexley local authority which includes the Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency.
	Sentencing occasions have been allocated to a location on the basis of the police force that processed the offence, or in the case of Bexley the offender's address at the time of conviction. Repeat offenders are those with a previous conviction or caution anywhere in England or Wales. These figures are a further breakdown of table Q7.5 in ‘Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly Update to December 2010’ which was published on 26 May 2011.
	These figures have been drawn from the police's administrative IT system, the police national computer, which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. The figures are provisional and subject to change as more information is recorded by the police.
	
		
			 Number of convictions for repeat offenders dealt with in Bexley local authority, the Metropolitan police and police forces in England, 2001-10  (1, 2) 
			 Sentencing occasions 
			  2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 
			 Bexley local authority           
			 All offenders 454 461 512 502 553 573 638 722 881 998 
			 Repeat offenders 390 399 453 435 478 499 550 616 763 853 
			 Percentage 85.9 86.6 88.5 86.7 86.4 87.1 86.2 85.3 86.6 85.5 
			 Metropolitan police force           
			 All offenders 43,489 48,757 48,374 45,604 43,608 45,549 47,676 51,696 52,681 55,516 
			 Repeat offenders 35,887 40,257 40,478 37,805 35,792 37,727 39,553 43,272 44,563 46,982 
			 Percentage 82.5 82.6 83.7 82.9 82.1 82.8 83.0 83.7 84.6 84.6 
			 Police forces in England           
			 All offenders 296,998 311,212 313,915 299,922 287,991 284,746 295,734 306,485 302,867 309,355 
			 Repeat offenders 261,217 276,070 279,428 265,098 254,293 252,307 263,512 274,317 271,228 276,596 
			 Percentage 88.0 88.7 89.0 88.4 88.3 88.6 89.1 89.5 89.6 89.4 
			 (1) Repeat offenders are those who had at least one previous caution or conviction. (2) Figures are counts of sentencing occasions.

EDUCATION

Children’s Centres

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proposals he has for future obligations or requirements for the provision of childcare by children centres.

Sarah Teather: The Government have set out a core purpose for Sure Start Children's Centres, focused on outcomes for children and families, particularly the most vulnerable. It is clear that children's centres can best achieve this by providing access to a range of universal and targeted services, which includes high-quality child care and early education such as access to the three and four-year-old entitlement to 15 hours of free early education and the new entitlement for disadvantaged two-year-olds. The evidence is clear on the impact that high-quality early learning and child care has on children's outcomes, particularly for the most disadvantaged children.
	The Government do not want to prescribe the detail of how local authorities and professionals run local services. However, as set out in the Childcare Act 2006, all children's centres should provide access to child care, either by having it on site or by providing advice and assistance in accessing it elsewhere. Children's centres with early learning and child care on site must meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which set the standards for quality across all early years settings. The Government have recently consulted on their proposals for a clearer, simpler, more effective EYFS. A summary report on the consultation, and the Government's response, will be published later this year.

Email

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether any (a) Ministers, (b) officials and (c) special advisers in his Department use private e-mail accounts for the conduct of Government business.

Tim Loughton: The Ministerial Code, the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, and the Civil Service Code set out how Ministers, officials and special advisers should conduct Government business.

New Schools Network

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 11 October 2011, Official Report, column 360W, on New Schools Network, for what reason he has decided not to publish all correspondence between his Department and the New Schools Network;
	(2)  when he plans to announce the successful bidder for his Department's competitive grant process in relation to free schools;
	(3)  if he will publish representations which he has received from potential providers of free schools on the service provided by the New Schools Network under its agreement with his Department;
	(4)  what discussions Ministers and officials of his Department had with the Cabinet Office on the award of funding to the New Schools Network;
	(5)  what specific conditions were contained in the grant agreement between his Department and the New Schools Network relating to conflicts of interest.

Nick Gibb: The Department does not routinely publish correspondence that it receives and sends as part of the normal course of business; this is no exception.
	The Department had no discussions with the Cabinet Office prior to the original grant award to the NSN.
	The conflicts of interest clause in the original NSN grant letter was based on the Department's model agreement and says:
	“NSN will ensure that staff, trustees, volunteers and advisers' conflicts of interest and potential conflicts of interest are promptly disclosed to the Department and recorded by NSN, and that proper standards of integrity are applied in relation to all its activities”.
	Following an open competitive process the NSN was successful with its bid for grant funding from 1 November 2011.

Postgraduate Education: Finance

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  when his Department decided to reduce support for PGCE students starting in September 2011; what support his Department will provide to such students; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the saving to the public purse following the reduction in support for PGCE students starting in September 2011.

Nick Gibb: Details of the training bursary arrangements for PGCE trainees starting courses in September 2011 were announced by the Department on 31 January 2011 and set out in a letter from the Secretary of State for Education, the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), to the chief executive of the Training and Development Agency for Schools on the same date. The letter confirmed that in 2011/12 £9,000 bursaries are available for PGCE trainees in mathematics, physics, chemistry and engineering while those on biology, combined/general science and modern foreign languages courses can receive £6,000 bursaries. All PGCE students can apply for the same student support as undergraduate students, including maintenance loans and means-tested grants.
	The cost of providing bursaries for postgraduate trainees that started courses in September 2010 is £151.3 million. The cost of providing bursaries for postgraduate trainees that started courses in September 2011 is £59.5 million.
	Our discussion document “Training our next generation of outstanding teachers” sets out proposals for reforming initial teacher training, including providing bursaries designed to make training to teach more attractive to the most talented graduates, especially in shortage subjects, from 2012/13. The proposals set out a bursary rate of between £4,000 and £20,000 depending on the degree classification of the trainee and the subject specialism or phase of the postgraduate course. We expect to announce the final arrangements for 2012/13 shortly. The bursaries will continue to be adjusted regularly according to the size of the pool of potential teachers and the demand from schools for new teachers.

Pupil Exclusions

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what progress has been made on the pilots of a new approach to permanent exclusions; what plans he has to introduce legislative proposals to amend provisions relating to permanent exclusions; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: Work on the trial commenced in September in the six local authorities which have so far committed to testing the new approach to school exclusion. These authorities are: Derbyshire, Lancashire, Wiltshire, East Sussex, Sefton and Redcar and Cleveland. The trial will cover at least 3,000 pupils “at-risk” of exclusion and we are currently in discussion with eight more local authorities who are hoping to join.
	The trial authorities are currently working with their schools to establish their own local arrangements and to develop schools' capacity to take on increased responsibilities for commissioning alternative provision.
	There will be an in-depth evaluation of the trial which will provide evidence of the impact of this new process on the outcomes for these “at-risk” pupils. Our intention is to consider legislative changes on the basis of this evidence.

Schools: Fire Extinguishers

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the proportion of new build and refurbished schools that comply with Government guidelines on the inclusion of sprinklers; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: Information is not held on the proportion of new build and refurbished schools that have installed sprinkler systems.
	The decision on whether or not to install sprinklers in schools and the assessment of the risks and benefits of installing sprinklers, is a matter for schools and local authorities.

Social Mobility

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what step his Department is taking to improve social mobility; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: This Government have set out an education reform programme in order to drive up attainment for children, regardless of their background, and to keep pace with the highest-performing systems in the world. We have undertaken specific measures to improve social mobility as set out in the Government's “Opening Doors, Breaking Barriers: A Strategy for Social Mobility”. These measures aim to ensure life chances are more equal at critical points such as the early years of development; school readiness at age five; GCSE attainment and the choice of options at 16.
	Evidence shows that investment in the early years of a child's life makes a difference to their future attainment. We have extended the free entitlement to early education to 15 hours per week for all three and four-year-olds, and we have committed to extend free early education to all disadvantaged two-year-olds by 2013. Funding for places for disadvantaged two-year-olds will rise from £64 million in the current financial year to £380 million by the end of the spending review period and will mean that around 140,000 two-year-olds will in the future benefit from free places.
	We have introduced the pupil premium which will provide additional resources to help raise the attainment of pupils from low income families. Total funding for the pupil premium is £625 million in 2011-12, £1.25 billion in 2012-13 and will rise to £2.5 billion a year by 2014-15.
	The pupil premium sits alongside a range of reforms that will help to ensure that more pupils achieve higher standards. These include allowing schools greater freedoms and flexibility to use their budgets as they think best, introducing a more rigorous emphasis on phonics in the early years of primary education and reviewing the national curriculum and assessment arrangements. We have also introduced a new £50 million pupil premium summer school programme which will provide two weeks of teaching and activities to help the most disadvantaged pupils make the transition from primary to secondary school.

Students: Transport

Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many local authorities have changed their transport subsidies for 16 to 18-year-olds accessing education and training between academic years 2010-11 and 2011-12.

Tim Loughton: Local authorities are required by section 509AA of the Education Act to publish a transport policy statement each year which sets out the support they will provide for 16 to 19-year-olds attending further education. The Department for Education is undertaking an exercise to establish whether all local authorities have published transport policy statements as required by section 509AA of the Education Act 1996.
	We do not have information on the changes to transport subsidies for 16 to 18-year-olds accessing education and training between academic years 2010-11 and 2011-12. Decisions regarding the extent of transport arrangements, including the provision of any financial assistance, are for local authorities to make following appropriate consultation.

Voluntary Work: Young People

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much funding he proposes to allocate to the National Citizen Service in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15; and if he will make a statement.

Tim Loughton: holding answer 21 October 2011
	Funding for NCS will come from a wide range of sources. 2011 pilot providers have secured funding from a range of sources that includes business donations, in-kind support from providers themselves, private philanthropic donations, local fundraising and small contributions from participants and their families. Discussions are ongoing with providers for the delivery of NCS in 2012. The level of government investment will be dependant on funding secured from other sources.
	The Government allocation for 2013 and 2014 is dependant on the level of funding secured from other sources.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Vacancies

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the ratio of jobseeker's allowance claimants to vacancies notified to Jobcentre Plus was in each (a) region, (b) local authority area and (c) constituency in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated November 2011
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what the ratio of Jobseeker's Allowance claimants per vacancy notified to Jobcentre Plus was in each (a) region (b) local authority area and (c) constituency in each of the last five years. (78103)
	In Table 1, we have provided the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) per Jobcentre Plus vacancy for each region, local authority area and constituency for September 2007, September 2008, September 2009, August 2010 and September 2011 which is the latest period available. Figures for September 2010 are not available so as an alternative August 2010 figures have been provided. As the information requested is quite extensive, a copy has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Departmental Buildings

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what (a) building and (b) refurbishment projects his Department plans in (i) the current and (ii) the next financial year; and what the cost will be of each such project.

Stephen O'Brien: I have deposited in the Library a table of our building and refurbishment costs for the current and next financial year. The total building and refurbishment costs for the current financial year is £2.61 million. We do not yet have completed plans in place for our projects in the next financial year so forecast costs are unknown at this stage.
	Please find as follows confirmed building and refurbishment costs for the current year:
	
		
			 Location Description Forecast costs for 2011-12 (£) 
			 South Sudan Juba Construction of a second storey extension to the existing UK Government shared building. 1,700,000 
			 Nigeria Kano Construction of a new building. 961,000 
			 South Africa Pretoria Refurbishment of the British high commission building that allows co-location of the Department for International Development (DFID) and Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). (1)— 
			 (1) Not known at this time. (Refurbishment project planned, but not yet commissioned for the current financial year)

Departmental Responsibilities

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development at how many events organised by (a) charities, (b) other civil society groups, (c) businesses and (d) lobbying organisations Ministers and senior officials in his Department have given speeches in each month since May 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Mitchell: As Secretary of State for International Development my responsibilities include meeting and speaking with a wide range of organisations in the UK and overseas about international development. Details of meetings and events undertaken by DFID Ministers can be found on the DFID website
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/About-us/Our-organisation/Ministers/
	Information on officials is not collected centrally.

CABINET OFFICE

Third Sector Organisations

Alun Michael: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what plans he has to increase co-operation between the civil service and third sector organisations.

Nick Hurd: We refreshed the compact last year and have asked the National Audit Office (NAO) to review how it is being implemented. Current plans are that this report will be published in early December by the NAO.
	We are also targeting 30,000 days of volunteering by civil servants per year.

Third Sector Organisations

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of the potential effects of spending decisions by local authorities on funding for third sector organisations in 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: We are working with strategic partners to monitor the situation.
	The new best value guidance published by the Department for Communities and Local Government, the refreshed compact, the transition fund and the infrastructure fund have all been put in place to support the sector through a very challenging time.

Public Sector Mutuals

Richard Graham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he is taking to encourage public sector mutuals.

Francis Maude: We have announced 21 Mutual Pathfinders to help us understand the best ways to enable and develop mutuals on an ongoing basis. The Mutuals Taskforce will provide advice and challenge to the Government in this area.
	We are also putting in place the support that these organisations may need in order to become a success. The Mutuals Support Programme will provide help, advice and guidance to support fledgling mutuals.

Cyber Security

Sajid Javid: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what his priorities are for the Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance.

Francis Maude: My priorities include:
	Publishing a National Cyber Security Strategy and co-ordinating delivery of the strategy across government and the wider economy;
	Overseeing the National Cyber Security Programme, which manages the £650 million investment in transforming the UK's cyber security capability; and
	Working with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to develop new and innovative partnerships with the private sector on cyber security issues.

Open Government Partnership

Claire Perry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of the potential role of the Open Government Partnership in promoting openness and transparency.

Francis Maude: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Hertsmere (Mr Clappison) at Cabinet Office oral questions earlier today.

Cobra: Security

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the (a) names and (b) positions were of non-security services civil servants who attended COBR committee meetings since May 2010.

Francis Maude: Attendance at COBR meetings is determined by the nature of the challenge under consideration, but includes representatives from a range of Government Departments and other organisations and agencies as appropriate. The names and positions of individuals attending internal meetings, such as these, are not normally released.

Construction: Manpower

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people were employed in the construction industry in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the north east and (d) the UK in each year since 1997.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated November 2011
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people were employed in the construction industry in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997.
	The Business Register Employment Survey (BRES) and it predecessor, the Annual Business Inquiry (ABI), are the most comprehensive sources of employee estimates at a detailed regional and geographical level. Both BRES and the ABI provide employee estimates based on business survey data collected on a specific reference date during each year.
	I attach a table showing the numbers of employees engaged in the construction sector in Jarrow parliamentary constituency (available from 2003 onwards only), South Tyneside county district, the North East region and Great Britain from the earliest year available (1998) to the most recent (2010). Unfortunately, a time series is not available for the UK.
	
		
			 Count of employees 1998 to 2008 (ABI) 
			  Jarrow (parliamentary constituency available from2003 onwards) South Tyneside North East Great Britain 
			 1998 — 2,800 51,700 1,108,000 
			 1999 — 3,000 56,400 1,130,600 
			 2000 — 1,700 55,800 1,127,800 
			 2001 — 2,200 56,800 1,156,200 
			 2002 — 2,000 54,400 1,163,200 
			 2003 1,000 1,800 53,200 1,137,900 
			 2004 1,300 2,200 57,500 1,180,900 
			 2005 1,800 2,800 61,800 1,212,900 
			      
			 2006 1,400 2,200 59,700 1,258,500 
			 2007 1,300 2,400 58,900 1,290,500 
			 2008 1,400 1,900 58,100 1,268,800 
			 Notes:  1. ABI 2006 discontinuity. Estimates for 2005 and earlier are on a different basis to those from 2006 onwards, mainly due to a change in the survey reference date from December to September. Users should avoid directly comparing employment estimates over the discontinuity, which has been marked on the table with a blank row.  2. ABI 2003 Geographic discontinuity. The 2003 ABI data for aggregate areas is based on 2003 CAS wards which differs from previous years ABI data which was build from 1991 census wards. This will give rise to discontinuities when comparing 2003 data with previous years.  3. ABI 2003 Industrial discontinuity. The 2003 ABI data is based on the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 2003 which differs from previous years ABI data. This may give rise to discontinuities. 
		
	
	
		
			 Count of employees 2008 to 2010 (BRES) 
			  Jarrow South Tyneside North East Great Britain 
			 2008 1,400 1,800 58,800 1,364,200 
			 2009 1,700 2,200 60,500 1,262,700 
			 2010 1,400 1,700 50,000 1,146,700 
			 Note: Care should be taken when comparing the results from BRES with those from ABI as BRES uses different methodology for calculating the estimates and is based on SIC 2007 rather than SIC 2003.

Departmental Assets

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assets with a value of £250,000 or more his Department has bought since May 2010; for what purpose; and if he will make a statement.

Francis Maude: The assets with a value of £250,000 or more that have been bought by the Cabinet Office during this period all support projects to modernise its central London headquarters at 70 Whitehall and to improve the efficiency of its Information Technology infrastructure. Details of costs can be found at the Cabinet Office transparency website:
	http://data.gov.uk/dataset/financial-transactions-data-co

Departmental Lost Property

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether his Department has lost any (a) computers, (b) mobile telephones, (c) BlackBerrys and (d) other IT equipment since May 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Francis Maude: The Cabinet Office has recorded four laptops, one mobile and eight BlackBerrys lost or missing since May 2010. No classified material was held on these devices.

Departmental Responsibilities

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many applications from employees to run services for which his Department is directly responsible he has received since May 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Francis Maude: The Cabinet Office is taking forward the Government's commitments to give public sector workers new rights to spin out to form new enterprises and continue to deliver public services, including through new mutuals and cooperatives. These rights will not be uniform across organisations.
	Within the Cabinet Office the transformation of My Civil Service Pension is under way. The company has been created, and we are currently in the process of identifying a private sector partner for My Civil Service Pension. As this process is underway at the moment it would be inappropriate to make any further statement at this time.

Departmental Telephone Services

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much funding his Department allocated to each telephone helpline funded by his Department in 2011-12; what the purpose is of each such helpline; and how many calls each helpline received in each of the last five years.

Francis Maude: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 6 September 2011, Official Report, column 431, to the hon. Member for Llanelli (Nia Griffith).

Government Departments: Databases

Jonathan Evans: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of the effect of the Open Data project; what account he will take of this assessment in determining the future of the project; and if he will make a statement.

Francis Maude: Transparency is a new way of operating in Government. Central and local government and wider public services have been made more accountable to the public, aided, by the release of over 7,500 datasets (including over 800 geographical linked datasets) via data.gov.uk. These datasets have enabled the public to view and track instances of crime in their area with police.uk having received hundreds of millions of hits since its launch; scrutinise Ministers' expenses, and; interrogate central and local government contracts. Originally targeted at technical experts and software developers, we are reviewing and repackaging data.gov.uk so that it can serve the general public more directly, as well as meet the needs of developers.
	The Government launched the Open Data consultation, “Making Open Data Real”, on 4 August. This included an assessment of the positive effects of Open Data, demonstrating that it can have a transformative effect on public services; improving outcomes and productivity through informed comparison; driving dynamic economic growth; enabling accountability, and transforming social relationships through empowering individuals and communities. The consultation and the forthcoming White Paper represent the next phase of the Transparency agenda, moving away from a simple accountability model, towards embedding openness and transparency as core operating principles of public services. The White Paper will contain a full impact assessment of policy proposals and the benefits of Open Data.
	The Transparency Team in the Cabinet Office is currently leading on an Open Data work stream within the second phase of the Government's growth review, to be released alongside the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s autumn statement on 29 November. In this, the Government will set out Open Data's potential to drive economic growth in the UK economy.

Mutual Societies

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he is taking to increase the number of community-owned mutuals; and if he will make a statement.

Francis Maude: holding answer 31 October 2011
	This Government are committed to supporting the creation and expansion of mutuals. Over the last year the 21 Cabinet Office Mutual Pathfinders have provided valuable learning which is being developed into a comprehensive package of support for fledgling mutuals. Many of the pathfinders have developed community engagement and ownership models, leading to responsive services which can innovate to meet local need.
	The Cabinet Office is also working with local partners to develop new community focused commissioning models.

Public Bodies Bill [HL]

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent representations he has received on the provisions of the Public Bodies Bill [Lords].

Francis Maude: The provisions in the Public Bodies Bill provide powers to Ministers to make reforms to a range of public bodies. Where a reform is proposed to a body listed in the Bill's schedules, Ministers are required to undertake a consultation process. Representations are most appropriately made during the consultation process. The Bill has now completed Third Reading in both Houses. During the passage of the Bill, contributions to debates were made by many Members of both Houses and where representations have been made to me I have ensured they are passed to the relevant Department.

Public Sector: Sick Leave

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he is taking to reduce sickness absence in the public sector to the same levels as in the private sector.

Francis Maude: holding answer 27 October 2011
	Cabinet Office hosts a regular cross-sector forum for employers which shares best practice on effective ways to reduce sickness absence.
	In the civil service, the average working days lost (AWDL) per staff year has fallen for the fifth consecutive quarter. The AWDL per person in the civil service now stands at 7.3 days. This compares to a private sector average of 7.1 days per person according to recent reports by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development and 5.9 days per person according to the Confederation of British Industry. The figures for the public sector are 9.1 days and 8.1 days respectively.
	AWDL in the civil service is currently at its lowest reported figure since 1999.
	More information about reducing sickness absence in the civil service can be found at:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/improving/health-and-wellbeing/sickness-absence

Third Sector

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will set and publish targets for the number of new (a) charities, (b) co-operatives, (c) employee-owned mutuals, (d) community-owned mutuals, (e) social enterprises and (f) other third sector organisations in the UK by 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: The creation of new civil society organisations is a matter for citizens and communities; it is not for Government to prescribe targets in this respect.
	The Government are committed to supporting citizens and communities to play a bigger role in shaping how communities work and how public services get delivered. This includes measures to support the growth of civil society, through making it easier to set up and run a charity or social enterprise, making it easier to work with the state, and getting more resources into the sector.

United Kingdom Statistics Authority: Government Procurement Card

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the (a) date of purchase, (b) amount, (c) supplier and (d) level 3 or enhanced transaction entry was of each transaction undertaken by UK Statistics Authority using the Government Procurement Card from the date of its establishment to May 2010.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Jill Matheson, dated 1 November 2011
	As Principal Accounting Officer for the UK Statistics Authority (including the Office for National Statistics) I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the (a) date of purchase, (b) amount, (c) supplier and (d) level 3 or enhanced transaction entry was, for each transaction undertaken by the UK Statistics Authority using Government Procurement Cards from the date of its establishment to May 2010. (73491). I am sorry for the delay in my reply.
	It is our policy to use the Government Procurement Card as an efficient way of processing low value transactions. All transactions made using Government Procurement Cards are subject to the same stringent controls process and authorisation as in our travel and subsistence and procure to pay systems.
	Tables providing a breakdown of expenditure by (i) the UK Statistics Authority and (ii) the Office for National Statistics using Government Procurement Cards for the period May 2009 - May 2010 will be placed in the House of Commons Library. Information for the previous period requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
	We are actively looking at how we can expand on datasets already published to include the publication of Government Procurement Card expenditure over £500.

World War I: Anniversaries

Keith Simpson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what preparations his Department has made for co-ordinating the commemoration of the 100(th) anniversary of the start of the First World War.

Francis Maude: holding answer 21 October 2011
	Traditionally, we mark the anniversary of the conclusion of a conflict rather than its beginning. So the main commemorations will be on the centenary of the end of the first world war in 1918. However, given the importance of the centenary of world war one a number of anniversaries of key events from 2014 to 2018, including the beginning of the war, will be marked in an appropriate way. The Prime Minister has asked my hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison), to act as his Special Representative and Co-ordinator for World War I Commemorations. Dr Murrison will work with international partners to ensure that the UK plays a full and active role; and will co-ordinate the cross-Whitehall effort in respect of the commemorations.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Gangmasters Licensing Authority

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the possible effect of the relocation of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to his Department on the activities of unlicensed gangmasters in the agricultural sector; and when he last met ministerial colleagues from DEFRA to discuss this issue.

Edward Davey: There are currently no plans to relocate the Gangmasters Licensing Authority from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to BIS. Therefore, no assessment has been made of the effect this might have. I last met with colleagues from DEFRA to discuss this and other issues on 14 September 2010, when we agreed that in the short term our priority should be ensuring that the current enforcement arrangements worked well.
	Under the Review of Workplace Rights Compliance and Enforcement we are looking at the scope to streamline activity and increase effectiveness. The review will be looking at a wide-range of different compliance and enforcement models. All options are on the table. As outlined in the ministerial statement of 12 October 2011, Official Report, columns 29-30WS, we will need to consider any eventual outcomes in the light of consultations under the employment strand of the Red Tape Challenge.

Trade: Developing Countries

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to work towards a conclusion to the Doha round in 2011.

Edward Davey: While it is now clear that the full Doha Development Round will not be concluded in 2011, the Government are continuing to press for the best possible outcome at the 8(th) World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference in December this year. We are working closely with the European Commission, EU member states and other WTO members to ensure that there is a clear way forward for the Doha Round in 2012 which delivers trade liberalisation, strengthens the multilateral system and advances the interests of poor countries.

Vetting

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what level of security vetting is required for the post of (a) head of communications, (b) deputy head of communications and (c) head of press office in his Department; and if he will list each person who has held these posts since May 2010;
	(2)  what level of security vetting is required for (a) grade six and seven, or equivalent, press officers and (b) ministerial private secretaries in his Department.

Edward Davey: Please refer to the publicly available booklet HMG Personnel Security Controls, available from the Cabinet Office website at
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/hmg-personnel-security-controls
	This booklet describes the circumstances in which a post may require the holder to be the subject of national security vetting checks. It would not be appropriate to confirm which specific posts within this Department are the subject of vetting, as this could highlight who has access to sensitive material and be used for targeting purposes.

Vetting

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what level of security vetting is required for (a) special advisers and (b) ministerial-appointed policy advisers in his Department; and if he will list each person who has held these posts since May 2010.

Edward Davey: Please refer to the publicly available booklet HMG Personnel Security Controls, available from the Cabinet Office website at
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/hmg-personnel-security-controls
	This booklet describes the circumstances in which a post may require the holder to be the subject of national security vetting checks. It would not be appropriate to confirm which specific posts within this Department are the subject of vetting, as this could highlight who has access to sensitive material and be used for targeting purposes.
	Please refer to the quarterly publication of the list of special advisers which is available in the Libraries of the House and can also be accessed on the Cabinet Office website at
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/special-adviser-data-releases

Vetting

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what company or Government service is used to undertake security vetting at (a) counter terrorist check, (b) security check and (c) developed vetting level in his Department.

Edward Davey: National security vetting at counter terrorist check, security check and developed vetting level for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is undertaken by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office services.